The Poké Storm Diaries
by Ereneviana
Summary: What happens when you combine an action replay, a copy of Pokémon Black, and a storm? Well, two young women are about to find out. Sucked into the world of Pokémon as a teenager & a Mew, they must travel across the regions to find a way home. But can they do so when one is being consumed by guilt and the other is violent, slightly demented and just a bit evil? Rated M to be safe.
1. Prolog, Important Note, & Disclaimer

Author's Note: This is a collaborative fic between my best friend and myself, she has given her permission and full support in posting the story here. Updates will be weekly, probably on Saturday, barring conflicts in real life as it has higher priority than posting chapters. This story is not perfect, although it _has_ undergone the editing process, there will be Mary-Sue moments and ideas. Frankly, we don't care. If you want to leave _constructive_ criticism, please feel free. If you want to flame, put us down as people, insult our intelligence, etc, etc, don't waste your or our time. Flames will be merrily used to roast a boar, then printed out and added to a dart board. Also, please note that this will be a combination of the games and the anime/movies, effectively making this story AU. This is written for nothing more than fun, which leads us to the ever and all important disclaimer, we don't own anything besides our OCs, or anyone/thing else you don't recognize, so don't sue. Now that the legalities and boring bits are out of the way, it is my pleasure to present you with our story.

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The Poke Storm Diaries

Prolog

We often go about our lives wishing for something miraculous or magical to happen to us, to take us away from our hum-drum boring lives to some amazing world where an adventure awaits us. But then we grow up. If we're lucky we realize that while magic isn't real, there are things here in the real world that will keep us happy, family, friends and the occasional video game or good book.

But what if the impossible did happen? What if you could be transported to another world? A world where mythical creatures were as real as you or I? Well, that's what happened to myself and my friend and here I am writing a journal of sorts about our experience. But I'm skipping ahead; let me start at the beginning...


	2. Chapter 1: October 25th 20XX

Oct 25th 20XX

Looking back on today which was supposed to be my 30th birthday, I think of everything that's happened and can't decide if it really happened or if I've just hang-glided over the edge of sanity and lost my mind completely. But then, I've always thought completely sane people were the truly crazy ones.

Anyway on the eve of my 30th birthday I decided to deny any semblance of total adulthood and spend it with my friend Phoenix, or Nix as she liked to be called, having one of our notorious geeky girl weekends which basically consisted of playing video games of our choice nonstop all weekend. If we were lucky we'd get a three day weekend to enjoy more time together in our favorite pastime. In a way I think I was partly trying to be a kid again, playing video games for a whole weekend, but I love playing them especially with Phoenix. Pokémon Black and White were our current favorites, but we've both been playing the series of Pokémon since the beginning of the release in America more than ten years ago.

I remember the night so clearly, we were sitting in Phoenix's living room next to each other, me in the rocking chair by the fire and Phoenix in the reclining arm chair. She was wearing her usual garb of black shirt and pants while I was comfy and cozy in my favorite blue pjs. I caught the lamp light gleaming off her red streaked black hair and grinned at her through my glasses.

We were about to do something I knew was so bad but oh so very much enjoyed. We were going to cheat code the games we were playing. I remember the wind howling outside the windows and rain slashing through the trees to claw at the glass like tortured souls being dragged off to damnation. Between that and the occasional flash of lighting, it looked like we had a nasty storm outside that made me all the happier we were indoors and not out in that wet nastiness.

"So, Nix, what do you want to first?" I asked her a wicked tone to my voice, knowing hacking the Pokémon game was so bad but it was just so much fun I didn't care. There was another flash of lighting outside that made us both pause a minute as the light flickered briefly. I frowned, a little concerned about power outages. My staring at the lights then the outlets must have caught Phoenix's attention because she smiled and said "Don't worry, Tori. We have a backup generator if the lights go out."

I smiled and replied, "Guess I was kinda obvious, huh? Even when we grow up, our fears don't totally go away. I still get uneasy about being left alone in the dark. Ah well, enough of me being a baby. Let's do this."

"You're not a baby, you're epic. And don't you forget it either." She nodded with a grin and plugged in the 3DS since the battery was low. Then she plugged in and turned on the game and the Action Replay. "So remind me Astoria, my dear, what Pokémon did you want to cheat in first?"

I thought about it a moment and said "Mew please. I've been wanting that cute flying cat-mouse forever. Plus it's pink. Who wouldn't love pink?" I saw Phoenix fake shudder and grimace as she raised an eyebrow at me. I chucked "Except you of course."

Phoenix smiled at me. "Give me black or red any day."

I leaned over the game screen, head nearly touching Phoenix's as I watched her enter the special code and turn on the actual game. "This is so cool! Come on, Mew!"

Phoenix laughed with me at my enthusiasm and I found myself really happy I had such a great friend. I hoped that our times like this would never end. That we could play Pokémon together forever.

"There we go. All done, Toriori. You now have your very own Mew."

I shouted a cheer just as another lighting flashed and what felt like a boom shook the house. Lighting must have hit the house because everything went dark.


	3. Chapter 2: October 26th 20XX

Oct 26th 20XX

It takes so long to write what happened those first few days, I think I passed out while holding the pen. Anyway back to that night.

The lighting flashed and it felt like a boom hit the house. I probably screamed, but the minute the lights went out everything went black, it felt like I fell a million miles. I thought I heard a distant voice say smugly "Well, you two should do..."

Then I wasn't aware of anything...

The next thing I knew I was lying in a green forest. I could tell it was a forest because I could feel my stomach lying on cool grass and see the light shining through the trees above me. I could smell the earthy scent of dirt and hear the delicate rustle of leaves as the wind moved through them. Distant but not far was also the sound of running water. A lake or a river maybe? All these thoughts ran through my head as I lay there trying to get my bearings and figure out how I ended up lying on the ground. That was not something I would do at least not without a blanket.

As I contemplated those thoughts and my surrounding I remembered the boom and flash had been the last thing I had seen before everything went dark. I sat up suddenly freaked that I was someplace I didn't know, let alone knowing how I had gotten there. More importantly where was Phoenix?! My worry and fear for her overrode everything and I staggered to my feet unbalanced and not feeling like myself.

"Phoenix! Oh God, Nix where are you?" I paused as I heard a faint voice that sounded like her.

"Tori?"

It was so soft and I could have sworn, weird as it was, that I heard it in my head not with my ears. I turned behind me to see what I thought was a pink ball of fluff lying on the ground... then it turned and looked at me with piercing blue eyes and two things occurred to me at once. One, I recognized that face as belonging to the Pokémon Mew. Secondly, was that I had lost my flipping mind because Mews did not exist. I screamed and backed up looking for an escape route as my flight instincts took over. What I heard next though made me freeze.

"Tori? Is that you? What's going on?!" A scared sounding Phoenix said to me in my head.

Sheer shock made my legs turn to jelly as I stared at the little pink Mew who somehow sounded like my friend Phoenix. Confused I slumped to my knees and just stared. Finally I found my voice and chocked out "Nix... i-is that you?"

Absently I was thinking ironically I sounded like a squeaky five year old and my friend seemed about a third the size of one. And she was fluffy and pink. With a tail. No, mustn't forget the tail. Such strange thoughts occur to you when you're currently looking at your friend who seems to have become a Mew.

Phoenix, or what I thought might be Phoenix and said "Tori, what's going on? Why are looking at me like that? Hey, you look kinda weird. And your way taller than me...?" She sat up confused and looked at her pink paws and shrieked "Pink! What the hell?! Why am I pink?! Get it off, get it off, get it off!" She tried to rub it off like it was some kind of paint, but it wasn't coming off.

"Nix your pink cause you're a Mew. Like as in the Pokémon."

Phoenix glared at me and said "Not cool, Tori. That is so not funny."

"Nix I wouldn't joke about this."

I looked around and spotted the thing that had made me hear water, it was a small lake near what looked like a Japanese shrine.

"Here, Nix look at your reflection." I paused a minute, the sound of my voice finally penetrating the fog of panic that had been shrouding my mind. That didn't sound like me. I had a sudden need to look at my reflection too. Scooping Phoenix up in my arms, I brought her to the water's edge. She was lighter than she looked so I was careful, afraid to break my friend in her new, tinier form.

We both leaned over the water with a growing sense of horror. I was once again dumbstruck for a few moments. I looked so different. I had green eyes and natural red hair pulled back in a ponytail, not to mention way thinner than I had ever been in my entire life and I looked like I was about somewhere between sixteen and nineteen. Plus the clothes I was wearing would never have fit my old body; jean short shorts, pink hat, shoes, and t-shirt, blue purple vest with lots of pockets, and a huge backpack.

"Oh crap..." was all I could find in me to say.

Phoenix staring at her own reflection and feeling her face and poking body as if she were trying to see if it was real replied "Yep. That sums up the situation quite nicely, my friend."


	4. Chapter 3: October 27th 20XX

Oct 27th 20XX...

So to recap things, my friend Phoenix and I somehow got transported to another world and/or dimension where she turned into a Pokémon and I a teenager. Neither were desirable conditions for us. I sat back from the lake shore and carefully set Phoenix down. I looked at her and she stared right back at me, her neck craned back as far as possible to meet my eyes with her own. She was so cute and fluffy with big blue eyes, like a character from one of our favorite anime. I suddenly grinned with a thought and started to reach out for her ears. Phoenix's glare stopped me though and she said "Tori, if you pull a Kagome on me, so help me gods I swear I'll take your hand off at the shoulder with my teeth!"

I froze but chuckled "Aw… come on, Nix! You're so fluffy and cute, can you seriously blame me?" I replied grinning at her. "Plus your tinier than ever now I doubt it'd hurt."

She growled at me, annoyed, and then started whining to the heavens, "This is oh so not fair! I was short to begin with! Now I'm friggin' mosquito sized! Hell, Fawn's probably got a few inches on me now." She complained, referencing her step-mother's Chihuahua/Min-Pin. She then balled up her tiny little paws making a fist at the sky and shaking it as if cursing it and the being who lived up there. "When I find out who is responsible for this fiasco, so help me, their entrails will become their extrails!"

I started laughing I couldn't help it "Nix. You're too freakin' adorable! "

She crossed her arms and glared at me again. I tried to stop laughing, but that move sent me into hysterics all over again. I was laughing so hard my sides were hurting. Imagine my intimidating friend Phoenix a tiny little Mew. Hilarious.

"I'm so very glad you find my suffering humorous, Tori."

I finally manage to stifle my giggles and say "I'm sorry, Nix, but this is just so ridiculous. You're a fluffy, pink Mew and I'm a teenager again. Either I've totally lost my mind or somehow this is real."

"No worries and no need to apologize. As much as it pains me to admit it, it is kinda of funny." She said waving off my apology with a slight smirk on her lips and her eyes glittering with mischief.

I sighed and sobering up said. "Maybe I have gone crazy..."

"You're not crazy, Tori. Odds are extremely low that we'd be suffering a shared hallucination or and even lower that we'd have delusional psychotic breaks at the same time. What's the last thing you remember?"

I paused and said carefully "There was the thunderstorm at your house. You were going to cheat in a Mew in my Pokémon game. Then that flash of lightning and thunder... then nothing. Then I woke up here next to you. Where ever here is."

Phoenix nodded agreeing "Yep that's pretty much what I remember too..."

A tinkling sounding laugh seeming to come from nowhere made both Phoenix and I jump a foot. In my case this was an exaggeration.

In Phoenix's it was literal, except she stayed in the air floating. Amazed, I said "Whoa, cool Nix! You can float and fly just like a real Mew."

"That would be so much more awesome and impressive if I wasn't afraid of heights!" She squealed, trying to swim through the air back to the ground, thankfully it worked.

The strange tinkling laugh happened again and a voice matching it said "Well, you two are funny aren't you? And most certainly not from around here."

It laughed again and a shining light came from the small shrine. Out of the portal of light appeared Celebi. I knew it was Celebi because legendary Pokémon were some of my favorite Pokémon. And you didn't get more legendary than a grass/psychic type fairy Pokémon who could travel through time. I stared with wonder at the tiny little Pokémon that was more than twice Phoenix's current size.

I chuckled and said the first thing that came to my mind "Wow, Nix, even Celebi has a foot on you."

Phoenix glared at me before turning her malevolent gaze at the legendary floating nearby. After giving the grass type a deliberate and piercing once over, she ground out, "…you bitch."

Despite the situation I had another chuckle at her cuteness and I swear she tried to growl but it came out as more of a lyrical purring sound which only made me chuckle more. I stopped as Celebi flew towards us and first hovered by Phoenix then flew to study my face. Her eyes were a sparkly emerald green that I almost felt I could sink into. She smiled at me and did a midair back flip giggling again.

"Yep, I was sooo right! You two are not from here. Time or space. You don't quite fit in this cycle." She said looking thoughtful.

Phoenix replied "No, really? What was your first clue? The caustic and sarcastic pink midget? Of course we don't belong here! What the fuck happened and why the hell am I pink?! You're the time Pokémon, can't you send us home? Or make us normal again? Or at least make me not pink?"

Celebi stared first at Phoenix then at me for a moment seeming to gaze so deeply she could see our souls. Finally she shook her head and said. "No, I'm sorry. That's not within my power. You'll have to find the ones who can control time and space and dimensions. Together they can send you back home.

I paused a minute thinking about what Celebi had said, "Wait. Time, space, and dimensions? Oh hell, you're talking about Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina." I face palmed and groaned aloud knowing those three hardly ever shared the same physical space because they fought constantly and they were notoriously hard to find to begin with. Not to mention they were not exactly pleasant or friendly Pokémon.

Phoenix sounding depressed said "Dammit! I'm gonna be pink and minuscule until well after Ragnarok and all of the hells freeze solid!"


	5. Chapter 4: October 28th 20XX

A/N: Ok, since odds are good I'm not going to have internet access until next week, I'm posting the next chapter now for those of you who are interested. As for those of you who aren't interested, why are you still reading this?

As always, we don't own, so don't sue.

Oct 28th 20XX

I looked down at Phoenix, took her tiny paws in my hands, and said "Hey, Nix it'll be ok, I promise. We're together and we're epically awesome remember? We know together more about Pokémon than anyone. We find those big guys somehow. Trust me we can do anything together."

Phoenix looked up at me a moment and then nodded, "OK, Tori, I trust you. You're right, we are pure epic and awesome, we can do this. We so have got this covered."

I nodded, let go of her paws and smiled a big reassuring smile at her and turned back to Celebi about to ask her something but paused noticing the weight on my back. I stopped and turned looking over my shoulder to finally pay attention to the backpack that I was apparently wearing.

"Hmm this thing feels full." I said partially talking to myself and partially to Phoenix. I took off the backpack and set it on the ground. It was a combination draw string and buckle closure, with a big middle center and lots of clasped side pockets just like I like in my bags. It was odd because it was almost like someone had designed it with me in mind. I opened the side pockets first and found medical supplies both for humans and Pokémon, in another pocket I found a GPS map for all the different regions and pokeballs. In the main section of the bag I found spare cloths similar in size and style to what I was wearing and camping gear complete with pots and pans. Sealed food packets were below that. At the very bottom I found a surprise.

It was a brown leather bound blank journal with a gold embossed insignia on the cover. They looked like seventeen different color plates arranged in a circle around a green gem. Amazed at the quality of the craftsmanship, I ran my fingers across the cover. It was the most beautiful hand bound book I had ever seen. Inside it was blank except for a very short inscription on the inside cover. "To help you find your way..." I read it aloud for Phoenix then looked at her wonderingly "Someone must like us Phoenix because this is everything a beginning Pokémon trainer would need... "

Phoenix nodded looking at the supplies and sniffing what looked like a packet of Pokémon berries.

"Maybe someone here in this world wanted to help us. Well, you at least. Personally, I think they have it in for me considering my current coloration and stature, but who do you think would do that?" She asked as she jumped into the air and dog paddled through it to sit on my shoulder, fisting a small paw in my ponytail and gently draping her tail around my neck to steady herself.

I noticed some of the berries were half the size of her head. I chose not to say it out loud though because I had teased Phoenix enough about her size for one day... Maybe. Possibly. For now. Brushing my hands across the cover and the pretty green gem I said "I don't know, but maybe this mark will give us a clue. It looks so familiar, but right now I can't place it."

I turned to Celebi and asked "Celebi, do you know who would have brought us here or why?"

Celebi looked thoughtful for a moment then shrugged, "I don't know, but others have come to this place through the powers of wishing. Did you make a wish?"

I started to shake my head in an automatic 'no' motion, but then paused remembering the last moments Phoenix and I had been in her living room. I had made a wish to play Pokémon with her forever. I had a panicked thought. Was it my wish that had brought us here? My wish that got Phoenix turned into a tiny Pokémon? Would she be angry or worse hate me? I didn't think I could live with Phoenix hating me. Guiltily I faked a smiled, shook my head, and said "No, I didn't wish for us to come here or for Phoenix to be turned into a Pokémon."

Which was true and I made it sound true, but in my heart guilt and worry churned for a moment as I wondered if the wish I had made was the reason Phoenix was trapped as a Pokémon, maybe permanently. Lost in my tormented thoughts I almost didn't hear what Celebi said when she asked us a question, "So, what will you two do now?"

I paused and thought about it out loud "Well, Nix and I have all the equipment a Pokémon trainer needs and we're in the world of Pokémon. Maybe the way to find Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina is to become a trainer. What do you think, Phoenix? We could try and catch Pokémon and find our way in this world while we look for the three of them."

Phoenix looked thoughtful a moment and said "I think your right, Tori. All these things for Pokémon and a human, it's like someone or something wants us to be taken care of, at least until we can get a grip on our new situation. I wonder what part of the Pokémon world we're in though? It's a big place."

I was about to ask Celebi and turned to face her but she wasn't there.

Phoenix looked over to where Celebi had been last before making a comment I really should have known was coming. "That bitch!"


	6. Chapter 5: October 29th 20XX

Author's Note(s): First and foremost, I would like to apologize for the delay in posting this next chapter of The Poké Storm Diaries. There was an unavoidable situation involving a gallbladder and a surgery to remove said gallbladder. Needless to say, yet I will anyway, the story took a back seat until I felt well enough to sit up at my computer and proofread and edit the chapters to be posted. Again, I would like to apologize for the delay and thank my readers for their understanding of the situation.

Secondly, my co-author and I would like to give a shout out to Mr. cyber, Mew'smeow, and Lina in thanks for their reviews. We truly appreciate and enjoyed getting them! We would also like to thank Mew'smeow and shadowkitten11 for marking this story as a favorite and Icthelight and Mew'smeow for following!

Lastly, as with every time I put up an author's note, here's the standard disclaimer: we don't own, so don't sue.

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Oct 29th 20XX  
I looked back at Phoenix's less than polite comment on the now disappeared Celebi and added "Possibly, but she is the time Pokémon. She's known to disappear a lot." Phoenix climbed down from my shoulder and I sighed as I had been hoping to ask the fairy Pokémon a few things, like if she knew where to hunt down the elusive Palkia, Dialga, and Giratina.

I, being ever the optimist, picked up the backpack and slung it over my shoulder. I looked down at Phoenix and said "We might want to get moving. I checked the map and in theory if we follow this path here parallel to the water, then it will lead us out of the forest and into Goldenrod city. That is, if this is Ilex Forest."

I paused, looking at Phoenix as something problematic crossed my mind. "Hey Nix? I um just thought of two things; one, you're super short and walking at my pace is gonna be impossible for you and two you afraid of flying because of the height. I'm going to have to carry you."

She looked up at me and growled that cute purring sound she made then sighed before replying, "Damn it, you're right. To steal your word for my own nefarious purposes, fuckerdoodle. I so need to work on getting a grip on this flying thing, I can make it to your shoulder just fine, but gods help me if I have to free fly far." She groaned in annoyance and pointed to my vest hood, "You can put me in there and I won't fall out, not to mention I can watch your back, literally. But so help me, Tori, if you make one more comment about me being cute, fuzzy-wuzzy, short, pink, etc etc, well, let's just say that the offer of gnawing your arm off at the shoulder is still on the table."

I chuckled as I bent down to pick Phoenix up. "Oh Nix, I wouldn't dream of it. Now, let's get you settled." I picked Phoenix up and settled her into the hood behind my shoulder. I noticed at that moment that Phoenix's fur was uber soft. "Wow, Nix, you're tiny, pink, and fluffy to boot. You're your worst nightmare come true." I said with a teasing giggle, though as I said that a brief flash of guilt that her condition might be my fault hit me.

Phoenix thunked her tiny head on my shoulder before she replied, though playfully "Didn't we just go over what would happen if you made another comment like that? Just bite me, Tori." She paused, then laughed evilly, admittedly the sound was quite disturbing coming from something so harmless looking, as she scooted around in my hood behind my head "On second thought, how about I bite you!"

Then she nomed the back of my head and I screeched at the tickling sensation and the surprise of it. Phoenix knew I was ticklish and the worst places to get me "Eeee! Nix, enough! I'm sorry! No more please! No more, I surrender!" Phoenix just chuckled and gently bit my shoulder once for good measure before seemingly satisfied with my total submission and surrender.

Phoenix cackled in glee "Now, are we going to make any more jokes about my fluffiness or height today Toriori or have you learned your lesson?" She asked leaning around to look at my face from her perch half in my hood and half on my shoulder.

I could see the wicked enjoyment coming out of her Mew eyes. It was a look I knew all too well from her human ones before her transformation. I knew that I would suffer terrible tickle torture unless I agreed. I shook my head in a placating manner, "Nope, won't hear a peep out of me on the subject."

Internally I replied with _At least not for the rest of today or while I'm within your nomming reach, Nix_. Fun and teasing out of the way, we set down the path together to gods knew whatever fate awaited us.

We traveled what seemed like a great many miles that day. All of it was very pretty in a scenic nature-y sort of way. I enjoyed that part of it and I think Phoenix did too. Eventually the sun started to set and we had to stop or try and stumble our way through the dark. I was not inclined to do that and neither was Phoenix.

We settled into a nice little clearing on a slight hill. It made me feel better to be able to see the moon high above us and it provided light for us to see our surroundings. Having been an experienced camper before, I knew the basics of setup with tent, sleeping bag, fire pit, and latrine. Phoenix, however, despite her basic knowledge of camping, was severely limited by her size. Being so small made it much harder for her to help, but she managed the fire pit and setting up cooking supplies without too much trouble. I was glad that the packed supplies had freeze dried meals, because I didn't think I could find much to forage for us in this strange environment.

One meal package in the backpack was labeled chili and I grinned. I loved chili. Following the instructions, we soon had a nice pot of boiling food while Phoenix and I sat around the fire companionably. I had always liked a good campfire myself as I found them soothing. I stirred the pot waiting for it to finish cooking and said to Phoenix something that had been on my mind while we were walking, "Hey, Nix? If shoot a thought at you, promise you'll think about it logically before you shoot it down?"

I sat back to look at her sitting on a rock across from me. She looked at me a little suspiciously, but nodded all the same. "When you say it like that, Tori, it plays very nicely on my paranoia. Just sharing that for future reference. It that worries me I'm not going to like this one iota, but go on and I promise to consider whatever it is seriously before deciding if it is offensive enough to justify trying using my tail as a noose." She replied dryly with a cheeky grin.


	7. Chapter 6: October 30th 20XX

Oct 30th 20XX

I grinned at Phoenix's comment, then took a breath preparing to tell her my idea; not sure how she would feel about it, let alone react to it. She always had been a bit unpredictable. "So the theory that we are in the Pokémon world is pretty obvious, right? My thoughts are that most of the rules from the games still apply, like fighting Pokémon gets you experience, fighting trainers gets you money, you know, things like that. Well… um… and wild Pokémon can be caught in pokeballs, but a trainers Pokémon can't be caught..."

Phoenix nodded, the suspicion faded to from her now crystalline blue eyes to be replaced with confusion. "Yeah, that make would make sense, Tori. But why didn't you think I'd like that idea though?" She asked cocking her head to the side in curiosity. It struck me that I'd seen her do that same movement as a human so many times that it was odd to see her do it as a Mew.

"Well, that's not the part you're not going to be too happy with, Nix. You see, I think you're technically a wild Pokémon right now, so any Tom, Dick, or Harry with a pokeball could come along and snatch you up by catching you. I think the only way to keep you safe and with me is if I catch you and put you in a pokeball of your own." I held up my hand showing her the pokeball I was holding. She sighed and her fur poofed up a bit making me think she was especially annoyed, probably because it made sense to her. I stifled a chuckle knowing this was a serious moment and Phoenix would not appreciate me laughing at her or her at the moment extra fluffy tail.

Finally she nodded and climbed to her feet saying, "You're right. I _don't_ like it, but the point you made has merit, and quite a bit of it. I don't like this, not one bit, but I don't have to like it. You make a good point and the last thing I want or we need is for some random yahoo to come along and chuck a pokeball at my skull, thus effectively separating us and forcing me to murder said random yahoo in massively grotesque ways."

She walked over to me on her two hind legs and stood in front of the pokeball, staring at it like it was an cruel and annoying thing that she would rather destroy and chuck in a garbage heap than go inside of. "Ok, let's get this over with. How do we do this?" She asked, breaking her gaze away from the pokeball to look up at me.

Setting the ball on the ground in front of her, I said "I think since you're a willing Pokémon you just press the button on the ball and it sucks you up. Then, after it does the three wiggle thing it's your ball, then I can let you out. That's how it seems to work in the games, right?" I know my voice wavered slightly and sounded unsure, but I was really in unfamiliar territory as much as Phoenix was. Yet there it was again, that feeling of anxiety and guilt that my friend might face something bad because of my stupid wish. I shoved it aside though and said "I just want to keep you safe Nix. I won't make you do it, but we'll have to be really careful around other trainers or people in general if we don't. It's up to you though." I paused, letting Phoenix mull over it as she stared at the pokeball.

Finally she nodded and said "its ok, Tori, we both know that you're right. I don't want to risk another person catching me, even if it would result in their untimely, gruesome, death and my ultimate escape." She took a deep breath and closed her eyes like she was preparing to jump off a cliff. She reached out carefully and pushed the button on the pokeball gently with her small pink paw that looked so much like a hand. A red light surrounded her and she faded out being sucked into the ball all at once. I watched as the ball wiggled and glowed three times, just like it had all those times in the game, slightly amazed my friend could fit in that tiny ball.

When it stopped wiggling I picked it up and grinning a little said "Hey Nix, consider this a test. If you can hear me, you're so extra fluffy and cute and oh so very pink, we should put bows on you and put you in a poke beauty pageant!" I laughed, then pointed and pressed the button out away from me. When Phoenix reappeared in a beam of light in front of me I saw an angry look on her face.

"Tori, I'm will get you if you ever dare to put ribbons on me! You will pay for such treasonous actions with _pain_! Now, get over here and let me rip you ears off!" I laughed and shot to my feet, partially to get my ears out of claw and fang reach, partially in victory, "Ha! My theory was right! Pokémon can hear stuff in their pokeballs"

Hearing Phoenix growl though, I carefully inched away, "Now, now, Nix. It was just a joke. I have no intention of- eeeeeekkkkkk! No! Not the tickle attack again!" I shrieked as Phoenix jumped me and, with the help of a little flying to cover the distance, she tickled me mercilessly to the ground.


	8. Chapter 7: October 31st 20XX

Oct 31st 20XX

Antics with Phoenix over, she and I sat down to a quiet dinner of chili by campfire and moon light. I found bowls and utensils sized for humans and Pokémon in the main compartment of the backpack I had woken up with; perfect for me and Phoenix to make use of, making me wonder once again at our mysterious benefactor.

I pushed those thoughts aside and setting to chow down on the chili. It was surprisingly good for a freeze dried meal. Looking at Phoenix though brought to mind a question that had been plaguing me since I started playing Pokémon as a child at least a dozen years ago. "Hey Nix? What's it like inside the pokeball? You could hear me pretty well, right?"

She looked up at me and nodded setting aside her tiny Pokémon friendly spoon and said "Yeah, I could hear you alright, Tori. Every. Single. Damn. Taunting. Word." She grinned at me mischievously revealing what I could swear was a tiny glint of fangs. Suddenly I wondered if Mews had sharp teeth or my overactive and now terrified imagination was playing tricks on me. _Best not to find out_, I thought.

Gulping nervously I asked, "So, was it like being in a place somewhere or something else?"

She paused and replied "Well, as you well know, I could hear you and I knew you were out there, but it felt like I was sorta half asleep in a cool, dark place. It was kind of like being tranqed, yet somehow still aware of everything going on around me."

I mulled over that for a moment and replied, "I remember from all the Pokémon literature and movies that being inside a pokeball is supposedly like being in stasis or a miniature version of each Pokémon's perfect habitat so that they don't age or get tired or hungry inside of them. It always bugged me not knowing the truth about what was inside the balls." I chewed on some more chili before swallowing and added, "It sounds to me like you're describing more of a limbo-like type of state, which I find really interesting in and of itself. But, anyway at least you're protected now and we don't have to worry about any other trainer catching you. I mean Mews are really, really rare and we don't want another trainer to snatch you up." I thought about what I had said and groaned realizing something.

"Nix, you're a Mew!" I said, having an epiphany and feeling like an idiot for not figuring this out before.

Phoenix looked at me in what I assume was confusion at my comment and replied, "Uh, yeah…? You know, Tori, I kinda figured that out already. The tiny and the pink and the tail sorta gave it away."

I shook my head and pointed at her up and down as I said hurriedly "Nix, there is like only one Mew in all of the Pokémon regions! Every trainer, professor, scientist, or slimy as hell, creepy or not, evil organization is gonna want to get their hands on you whether or not you already have a trainer! You're going to be one of the most popular Pokémon in the entire world. Everyone will either want to dissect you to see how you work or own you for the power and prestige."

Phoenix, who hated large groups of people and unwanted attention, let alone touching, cringed. "Oh shit, you're right." she face palmed and muttered "This is all because I'm pink and a fluffy midget legendary. As if I didn't hate it enough already, this certainly does not fall under the perks column!" She looked up at the heavens and growled "Why couldn't you at least make me some other damn Pokémon! Anything but a legendary! Come on! Anything! Throw me a bone here! You jerks could've made me a Vulpix or something!"

As she shouted the name Vulpix a light surrounded Phoenix and I gasped in pain as the light blinded me for a minute. "Aaahhhhh! Nix, what's happening!? Are you ok!?" I blinked, my eyes watering as my vision came back in pieces.

"Yeah, Tori. At least I think so. Things are looking kinda weird, though."

I blinked my vision finally clearing enough for me to see. And in front of me was not a Mew, but another Pokémon I knew pretty well. It was the fire -type fox Pokémon Vulpix. "Ph-Phoenix? Um, that's you, isn't it?" As the little Vulpix looked up at me, I gasped with shock once more for her eyes were not with the normal grey-brown eyes of the fox Pokémon; they had Phoenix's Mew eyes colored the same shade of pink as her fur had been mere minutes ago.

She looked at herself and squealed with delight. "Oh my gods, I'm not pink! Yes! Woohoo! I'm not pink anymore!" She started dancing around on her four paws looking very excited, as if nothing could ruin this moment for her. She stumbled slightly and commented, "Whoa, being on four paws is weird." She stopped and looked at her bushy tails, "So much better. Red, even reddish brown, is oh so very muchly better. You know, I think this counts as being thrown a bone."

I smiled at Phoenix, thrilled to see her so happy and then I remembered something. Slapping my forehead I said, "Oh wow, Nix, what a pair of idiots we are! We forgot one of Mew's powers is to transform like a Ditto. That means that maybe you can turn into other things the way you changed to a Vulpix."

She looked up at me, commenting. "Damn, I can't believe we forgot about that! I wonder… Could I transform into _anything_?" She pondered, a slow impish grin crossing her features, her pink eyes twinkling with a sadistic gleam that I knew from years of experience meant trouble.


	9. Chapter 8: November 1st 20XX

Author's Note: Nothing drastic this time, however once again my co-author and I would like to give our immense thanks to mr. cyber, who reviewed, followed and favorited this story. Also we would like to give a special thanks to Mew'smeow, who has reviewed every chapter since chapter five. Thank you both for the encouragement! To all those who have viewed the story, we hope you're enjoying it and thank you for giving our bit of fun a chance to be read.

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Nov 1st 20XX

After a little bit of trial and error, Phoenix figured out that there were some limitations to her new powers and sadly, she could not turn into absolutely anything as her attempt to turn into one of the horsemen of apocalypse failed miserably. Needless to say she was extremely disappointed.

It turned out that the Pokémon she knew the best she could transform into easily, such as Vulpix, Ditto, and a few others, primarily from the first two generations. She could hold the transformation as long as she wanted, and even better she didn't have to shift to her Mew form in between transformations. Needless to say, she was delighted with that knowledge.

It meant she could be whatever Pokémon she wanted or I needed her to be, with enough practice. She tried other Pokémon forms that she vaguely knew, but had some trouble. Apparently, she couldn't just name them. It seemed like she had to have a very clear image in her mind of how the Pokémon looked. As long as she could concentrate on the image long enough to complete the shifting of her form, she could hold the new shape as easily as breathing, unless something startled or scared her. There was one thing, however, that she could not seem to change, no matter how hard she tried or concentrated, her eyes. Her iris color always stayed the same pink hue as her Mew fur unless she was in her Mew form, then they were a bright, clear azurite blue.

When I told her about her iris color, she was, to put it mildly, rather annoyed. "Damn it! I'm cursed! The horrible, hideous, heinous and horrendous curse of pink! It won't freakin' leave me alone! I knew it was evil! I've said it for years, Tori! You wouldn't believe me, Mom wouldn't believe me, no one believed me when I warned them that it was evil! Go figure it took me being turned pink to get my godsdamn proof."

I chuckled and replied "Nix, a color can't be evil. It's just a color."

"Lies! I now have a, Mew-exclusive, literal and permanent case of pink eye!" She growled at me, her eyes locked onto her reflection's rosy orbs in a mirror that I found in the pack for her to use.

That bag was so useful, though sometimes disturbingly odd. I swear it didn't seem that big or heavy, but often I would reach in and find just what I wanted or needed, like some sort of magical bag of holding or endless knapsack from Exalted or something similar. Maybe it was actually magical? It would make sense as I had always thought that the trainer bags were far too small for all the items a trainer would need to carry. It amazed me; I kept getting more surprises about how this world worked. Phoenix and I might have a lot more to learn about this world than I had first thought. For instance, how could we get her eyes to change with her shape?

"Are you sure you're holding the image of Ditto in your head clearly, Nix? Remember, it's got a thin mouth, no nose and little dotty eyes?" I said, hoping that if I prompted her it would actually help her get her eyes to change. The Ditto that was currently Phoenix shook her head; well, what I would assume was Phoenix's head, since the gelatinous blob of her current shape made deciphering body parts just a little tricky.

"It won't work, Tori. No matter what form I, take my eyes seem to decide they're going to glitch and stay stuck."

It was honestly a little disturbing to me to see Phoenix's Mew-like eyes on a Ditto body. I didn't say that out loud though because I doubt anyone else would really notice. _I hope._

My extreme and obsessive attention to detail was a weakness of mine, although I learned a long time ago just to take it easy and leave things as they were for the sake of my sanity. Trying to control everything was the path to madness, of that there was no doubt in my mind. I sighed and placing the mirror back in the knapsack, down looked at Phoenix.

"Well, I guess this is another one of your limits, Nix. You can shift to any Pokémon you want, if you can imagine it, but your eyes stay the same, they just won't budge. I wonder… Let's see what else you can do, shall we? Try changing back to Vulpix again, I have an idea that I want you to test."

Phoenix wiggled her blobby Ditto head in what I took to be a nod and closed her pink eyes. "Okay, Vulpix, Vulpix..." she said distractedly as a look of severe concentration covered her features. The light appeared around her again, although this time I knew to shield my eyes from its blinding glare. The next time I blinked Phoenix the Vulpix stood before me, not Phoenix the Ditto.

I smiled and said "Ok, now let's see what you can do, Nix." I added some more logs to the dimming fire and pointed, "One of Vulpix's early moves is ember; see if you can use it to blast those logs."

Phoenix cocked her head to the side and replied "Wait a sec, you want me to set it on _fire_? …Awesome. No arguments here, my friend. Lemme see if I can figure out how to do this..."

She stared at the logs very intently, her gaze bordering on glaring at the pieces of wood. I almost wanted to order Phoenix like a real trainer and say 'Vuplix, ember attack!' But Phoenix was not some random Pokémon, she was a human and my friend. Not to mention odds were good I would suffer more tickle torture for the comment. I closed my eyes at the momentary flash of guilt that shot through me once again at the thought that her condition may be my fault. Maybe I should just tell Phoenix and get it off my chest? This guilt was starting to eat me alive.

Just as I was about to open my mouth and try to tell her, another flash, this one of a different kind than before, brushed past my face making me open my eyes in surprise at the heat. A fireball flew past me and I shrieked in surprise as it came close to my face and I toppled back out of the way.

"Tori! Are you alright?! Oh my gods, I am so sorry! Did I hit you!? Are you burned!?" Her fear for me made her loose her control and she shifted back to her Mew self. She pounced on me, her soft paws patting down my face, checking me for any sign of possible injury.

"I'm ok, Nix. I'm fine, really, I promise. I just was surprised." I smiled down at her and looked over at the steam coming out of the extinguishing bucket next to the fire. Phoenix's ember blast had hit that and not me. "You know, I think it's safe to say that we need to work on your aim. Mishap aside, that was so awesome, Nix! You really did it!"

She sighed in relief and thumped her head on my chest, burying her face there as she hugged me. "I was so scared. I thought I hurt you, Tori."

I hugged her back carefully "I'm fine, Nix, no harm done. I'm so proud of you, though. You really did that. You're just so epically powerful, it's amazing."

Phoenix looked up at me and smiled, "Thank you. I'm just happy you're ok. It would have killed me if I had hurt you. You're my family, Astoria, my sister, and I would happily destroy the world to keep you safe."

I smiled and hugged her again "I'd do the same for you, Phoenix."

Bad or good, I had my dearest friend with me and in that moment, I was happy.


	10. Chapter 9: November 2nd 20XX

Nov 2nd 20XX

Scary brushes with fire over and thankfully done with, Phoenix and I decided getting some shut eye was a good plan. We also decided to share my sleeping bag since it was big enough for two people let alone a teenage girl and a small Pokémon like her Mew self. Phoenix was worn out from the day's events, all of the transforming, stress of a new body and world, not to mention the adrenaline cool down from the close call with the fireball made for a long day; wasting no time, she curled up in the soft bag and was fast asleep almost immediately. I, on the other hand, was still a bit wound up and so stayed up a little longer to write here in the journal I had found in the bag. Maybe writing down what happened to us would help us to make sense of everything in the future and, as the book said, help us find our way.

I woke up to find myself cocooned in the warmth of my sleeping bag the early morning. I was all snuggely and warm in my blanket, and felt something warm and fluffy cuddled up next to me. For a moment, I thought I was home and one of my dogs had crawled under the covers with me as they often would on a weekend when I had the luxury of sleeping in. The early morning light was filtering through the tent, however, reminded me slowly that I was nowhere near home and it was my now furry friend under the covers, not one of my dogs.

"Damn daystar… Why does it have to be so friggin' bright?" Phoenix's voice grumbled, her pet name for the sun making me chuckle as she tried to bury her fuzzy body deeper into the covers where it was warmer and definitely much darker. She always was more of an afternoon to night sort of person and I couldn't see that changing anytime soon.

I felt a pencil in my hand, quickly realizing it as the one I had been using to write with the night before and the journal, its cover open, lay beside me on the floor. I must have fallen asleep while writing which wasn't too surprising as it had happened to me before on more than one occasion. I closed it gently and carefully tucked both book and pencil into the main pocket in the bag. I turned towards the Phoenix-shaped lump deep within the sleeping bag and said, "You know, hiding under there isn't going to make the day end or the sun go away."

Phoenix popped her head out and narrowed her large eyes into a fierce glare which she promptly directed at me. "You're poking logic shaped holes, Toriori. I do not appreciate such things at such an ungodsly hour."

I chuckled and replied, "Well, I'm good at poking so unless you get up outta there on your own, I'm gonna poke you until you do." I grinned mischievously at her showing how much I would enjoy her staying in the sleeping bag. She grumbled a bit more about sunlight and how I was stealing her position as the evil twin, but did get up. "Come on, Nix. I found freeze dried coffee and cream in the pack last night. So I'll caffeinate you before we have to get going. I wanna try and find a way out of this forest before night falls again." Besides, I needed my caffeine fix too.

Although I wondered idly if in this new body I would face the same caffeine withdrawal symptoms as I had back home when I tried to kick the caffeine addiction I had had for well over four years. I pushed that thought aside figuring it was way too early in the morning for deep thinking. I had Phoenix watch the cooking food and boiling water while I packed up camp. I put the sleeping bag and tent back in. Musing how awesome that bag was that it fit so much. Then it hit me, I mean _really_ hit me.

There was no way without defying the laws of physics that all of that stuff could fit in there and not be popping out of it at the seams. Out loud I said to Phoenix, "It's like Hermione's bag!"

Phoenix turned to me, cocking her head to the left in confusion, "What's like whose thing now? It is way to early. You've lost me, Tori."

I chuckled and turned to her before pointing back to the back pack. "It's like Hermione's bag, it fits way more inside of it than it possibly could without some sort of magic or extremely superior technology." I grinned and commented to her teasingly, "Maybe you should poke your head in there, Nix? We can figure out if it's a black hole or not."

She looked at me and pointed to the pot, "There is boiling coffee right here, Tori. I will dump it on the ground and watch and cackle with glee as you weep over what remains of it if you continue this line of conversation about using me as a guinea pig. I am perfectly capable of functioning without the caffeine, though I may not like to, however you, my dear, are not so skilled."

I gaped in horror at Phoenix's threat of wasting perfectly good coffee. "You wouldn't dare..." I paused my comment for two reasons, one because I knew perfectly well that if I pushed her far enough, she would very easily dare. The second reason would be that I noticed something bright yellow dart into our camp. It was a Pikachu! I was about to squeal in absolute and pure delight, when the little electric mouse picked up a pokeball that I had left on a rock by the campfire. It chirped happily at us while I screamed, "Oh hell, Nix, that's your pokeball!"

I ran towards the yellow critter, hoping to stop him as I heard Phoenix snap, "Oh, he is so freakin' dead! Drop that you little...! No, wait! Come back here or I'll make sure you're never able to reproduce!"

Phoenix and my shouting must have scared the Pikachu, because it took off quickly with the pokeball in its hand. Phoenix started chasing after it and I, after dousing the fire tore after them fast as I could run, pursuing them easily by following the loud string of creative and extremely violent threats.

"Do you hear me?! Dead mouse walking!"


	11. Chapter 10: November 3rd 20XX

Nov 3rd 20XX

I had to hurry to catch up to Phoenix and the rapidly fleeing Pikachu. I was berating myself mentally as I ran for doing something as stupid as leaving something as important as Phoenix's pokeball lying around. I caught sight of her flying around trees to try and catch up to him fast as possible, her fear apparently forgotten in her rage. I wasn't sure I could catch up with them, but I was surprised by my new body's speed and endurance. I had not been the most agile or speedy person in my original form so this was new, not to mention just plain awesome.

I followed Phoenix carefully, weaving my way through the trees and over roots; I even had to jump over a fallen log and nearly took a header into a bush with the speed I was going. I heard Phoenix cursing and I managed to catch up with her and the Pikachu at the base of a tall tree. He had climbed up to the tippy top branches higher than Phoenix was willing to climb herself or fly, apparently even as pissed off as she was, the tree was high enough for her to take pause.

She stood on the ground cursing him "Come down here you pathetic, yellow excuse for a static filled dust bunny, so I can strangle you with my tail or whatever else happens to be handy!"

The Pikachu mockingly chittered back at her and Phoenix froze her fur bristling in what quickly surpassed anger and spiraled into outright, homicidal fury. "What the hell did you just say to me you, little bastard!?"

She turned to me and I could practically see the fires burning in her blue eyes and steam coming off her little Mew body. She was oh so beyond pissed. "Did you hear what he just said to me, Tori!?

I shook my head simply and was rewarded by Phoenix responding with a sharp bark, "He said maybe he'd be nice if I made some Poké eggs with him! I'm going to skin his kleptomaniac ass alive and beat him to death with the still bloody hide before I give it to you to wear as a fashionable hat!"

She turned looking back up the tree and snarled "You hear me, you damn rat?! I'm gonna draw and quarter you while beating you with a piece of razor wire! You are dead! Do you understand me?! Dead!"

I looked up at the Pikachu as he taunted Phoenix some more sticking his tongue out at us and said some more things that I couldn't understand. "Wait, Nix, can you understand what he's saying?" I distracted her a moment from her cursing at the Pikachu and telling him something extremely disturbing about exactly what she planned to do with his entrails when she got a hold of him.

"Yes, and he's going to pay dearly for it! With pain. Massively excruciating amounts of _pain_!"

He said something at Phoenix in Pokémon and she threw a rock at him. I heard the Pikachu chitter at Phoenix again and whatever he said while waving her pokeball at her make her screech with anger.

Calmly I said "Funny that you can understand him and I can't."

"Wanna trade?" She snarled before snapping her attention back to the Pikachu and picking up her threats (this time something about honey, fire ants, dull nails, and hot coals) without missing a beat.

"Well, he can't stay up there forever, right? Any ideas on getting him down?" I asked the fuming and rather mentally unstable Mew.

"Five gallons of gasoline and a match." She growled, before pausing and seriously considering the question I asked her. Her eyes widened and she grinned maliciously, when she spoke next, her voice was very quiet, like she didn't want the Pikachu to hear what she had to say. "Here's what we're going to do, I'll climb slash fly up as far as I can without freaking out and distract him, you reach into your bag of awesome and pull out a slingshot and a free pokeball. While his focus is on me, you use the slingshot to fire the empty pokeball at him. Best case scenario, it temporarily catches him and knocks his ass to ground level and frees my pokeball from his possession, worst case scenario, it actually catches the little fucker... Then again, if it does catch him, it'll be fairly easy for me to maim and then murder him."

I looked at Phoenix, then I looked up at the smug Pikachu and thought to myself that maybe we could use another Pokémon added to our party. After all, Phoenix would get tired if she was the only one participating in battles

"Hey Nix? I say catching him is a good idea, but what if we let him live? Seriously all he did was be an insulting jerk and we could use more Pokémon to help us out."

"Insulting jerk? Insulting jerk?! He suggested I jump him! Screw more Pokémon for the team, the rat dies!"

I quickly changed my thought process and went about appealing to Phoenix's current homicidal rage. "You could make him pay on a regular basis if we catch him."

Phoenix seemed to consider the idea a moment as she stared up at the mocking Pikachu. "But I really want to kill him..." she pouted, her voice tinged with a slight whine that I knew meant she was caving.

I tried to sweeten the deal, "Maybe once you've broken him in, he'll be your minion, Nix. You've always wanted a minion to do your bidding, right? Please spare him, for me?"

I paused, waiting for her answer. She sighed heavily and replied "Fine! But I reserve the right to maim him after he's caught. And he shall be made aware that his continued existence is dependent upon your benevolence, cause gods know the only reason I'm sparing him is because you want me to so badly."

I nodded and went quickly back to camp and grabbed what I needed before heading back to the clearing with my friend and her would be victim.


	12. Chapter 11: November 4th 20XX

A/N: We would like to apologize in advance for the shortness of this and the next chapters. Thank you for your understanding, or lack thereof. :p

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Nov 4th 20XX

Phoenix enacted the first part of our plan by flying up about two branch higher than she had managed before which, considering her fear of heights, made me quite proud of her. I had picked a spot at the base of the tree where I hoped I'd have a good chance of lining up a shot. Pokeball and slingshot in hand I crouched down and waited.

"Hey! You! Yeah, you! The thing with eat-your-eyeballs-yellow fur! You're a pathetic, damn coward who's the bastard child of a hand buzzer and a New York sewer rat!"

The Pikachu chittered back and Nix growled back as she inched a little higher up, "My _sweet side_!? Just you wait until I get my claws on you, then I'll show you what my 'sweet side' looks like!"

The Pikachu engaged in yet another fit of mockery turned and waved his tail at Phoenix in a rather taunting way. Phoenix inched higher and shouted louder at him mentioning several things I didn't think were physically possible if the subject were to remain alive. While the Pikachu was distracted with Phoenix's yelling and his own antagonistic endeavors, I took aim very carefully with the pokeball in the slingshot, knowing I had only once chance for this plan to work. He was a glaring yellow target, but I didn't dare risk missing him, so I took my time. Taking a deep breath, I checked my aim once more, and let it fly.

I watched it soar up higher and higher and when I saw a flash of red I sounded a whoop of victory! I saw Phoenix's pokeball fall and ran to catch it. When it landed in my arms, I gave a sigh of relief. A second pokeball fell which I assumed was the one holding the Pikachu.

"I got it, Nix!" I yelled happily, waving the pokeball for her to see.

She smiled down at me and said "That's great and all, Tori, but before we celebrate too much, I may have a tiny, little problem…"

I paused and waited for her ton continue, noticing that her fur seemed a little paler than when this fiasco started. "What's wrong, Nix?"

She let out a strangled whimper, "I seem to have climbed too high and now I can't get down! Please help me down! Too high, way, way, _way_, too high! Get me down from here! I'm too psychotic to spend the rest of eternity stuck up a tree!"

I chuckled and replied "I'm coming, Nix. Just stay there and try not to panic any more than you already are." I got foothold on the tree and started the climb up to retrieve my dear friend, who I would later tease mercilessly for being treed like a kitten.


	13. Chapter 12: November 5th 20XX

To our beloved readers, we would like to take you attention for just a moment before you read the next chapter of our story. As you may or may not know, on Monday, April 15th, The Boston Marathon suffered from a bombing that left at least 3 people dead and more than 175 people injured. We would like to dedicate this chapter to those who have passed on and those who have suffered and are still suffering from this tragedy. Fellow New Englanders, you are in our thoughts, our hearts, and our prayers. Thank you all for taking the time to read this dedication.

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Nov 5th 20XX

I managed to get Phoenix down from the tall tree without freaking her out too badly, not an easy task, I can assure you, especially since she managed to get about halfway up before getting stuck. I tucked both poke balls into my vest pockets once we got down from the tree. After that Phoenix and I headed back to camp to re-heat breakfast and, much more importantly, coffee before we figured out what to do with our new Pokémon companion.

I found myself very happy and relaxed after some eggs and two cups of coffee prepared just the way I liked them. Nursing my third, and last, cup gave me time to ponder the problem of Phoenix and our new Pikachu friend; and more importantly, what had to be done in order for her to be appeased while at the same ensuring the Pikachu's survival.

I watched Phoenix eying the Pikachu's ball maliciously in between bites of eggs and I gently chastised her, "Not until after breakfast, Nix. I refuse to have our meal interrupted with more chaos."

She pouted but complied readily enough and replied, "Ok, ok, fine. No death until after breakfast."

A few more minutes of quiet contemplation and I had my solution... And, conveniently enough, was finished with breakfast. Into the back pack I went, digging out a few items that would be needed. A few towels, three bottles of poke potion, a bucket, and a hair brush and soap for me. Phoenix watched me curiously as I placed the potions and half the towels in front of her along with the Pikachu's pokeball. "Nix, I'm gonna go clean off in the stream just a few minutes that way. You have thirty minutes alone with the Pikachu to punish as you see fit. Don't permanently cripple or kill him. Use the potions after you're done, if you please and clean up any blood with the towels."

Phoenix looked up at me like her birthday had come early I had just given her the best present ever of global domination on a silver platter. "Oh Tori, you are so awesome. Thank you!"

I smiled and headed out. She cackled with glee as I left the area. I could hear what sounded like screams of terror and the maniacal laughter of a very happy, very sadistic, very insane Mew as I made my way to the stream to wash, mentally thanking forces unknown that she was my friend and not my enemy. I didn't dare look back.

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A/N: Alright, I know it's not Saturday, but the new chapter has been posted early for two reasons. First, we wanted the dedication to be put out there and second because I won't have time to use my computer on Saturday as some family is visiting.


	14. Chapter 13: November 6th 20XX

Nov 6th 20XX

I came back to camp feeling clean and refreshed after my quick clean up at the stream, which was surprisingly clear compared to similar bodies of water back home; I was slightly surprised by what I found. Phoenix was happily eating the last of the eggs and on the other side of the campfire ring was our new Pikachu. Phoenix would occasionally look at him with a slightly demented, sadistic grin and the Pikachu would twitch and spark, releasing little electric bolts. I assumed trauma from Phoenix's retribution was the cause of that, the girl certainly knew how to hold a grudge.

The Pikachu turned a saw me and the next thing knew he was clinging to my leg, chittering and squeaking in terror. I pet the little guy gently, feeling just a tiny bit guilty I left him alone and at Phoenix's tender mercy. "It's ok little guy, as long as you behave I'm sure Nix will leave you alone..." Glancing at said Mew, I was not too surprised to see her holding her tail and shaking it at him, the pink appendage in what appeared to be a noose-like shape and I frowned at her "Nix, enough, please. Torture over. Don't scare the lil guy anymore. You know, I can't just call you little guy I suppose. Hmmm… what to name you?"

I turned my attention back to the sparking, terrified Pikachu and it just came to me. I smiled and picked up the yellow mouse and looked him in the eyes, "Ok, from now on your name is gonna be Sparky. Sound good?" The Pikachu seemed to calm down after a few minutes; he even smiled when I said his new name and surprised me with a real hug. I chuckled and said, "Well, I guess that means you like your name huh?"

He chittered at me and I looked at him confused when Phoenix starting laughing in a rather evil way. Still confused I looked at her and asked "What's so funny, Nix? What did he say?"

Her laughter toned down to quiet chuckles as she replied "In a nut shell, he said if you protect him from my wrath, you can call him Sally, Jim-Bob, or whatever else suits your fancy, he doesn't care."

He chittered something else and buried his head in my chest and almost faster than my eyes could follow, Phoenix had him on the ground was beating him with a stick that was as big as she was and probably outweighed her by quite a bit. "Not while I'm still alive, rat! Bad Sparky! I should kill you for that!"

Confused once again I said "Nix, what are you doing!? No more torture remember?"

She paused the violence to stare at me, her blue eyes blazing with protective fury, "He said he loved your breasts and he was trying to cop a feel."

I stopped and let that statement sink in. Deadpanned I went over to the bag and fished another potion. I handed it to her and said, "Five minutes, Nix. I want to break camp and get out of this forest."

That said, I sat and drank the last of my coffee while Sparky learned a very important lesson, courtesy of my own personal guard Pokémon. That's when it dawned on me that Phoenix had become more aggressive since her transformation and her temper was much shorter as well, no pun intended. After a few moments of thought, I had to keep myself from laughing as I came to the most probable solution; Phoenix was like one of those little, mean dogs, now.

She has always taken her role of protecting me seriously, but with her decreased height and strength, she was no longer able to do so as effectively in her eyes. The increased aggression and temper probably stemmed from her thoughts of needing to stop any and all potential threats before they became dangerous. Like a small dog, she would snarl and get her hackles raised as she tried to prove to the world that she was tough enough to not only handle whatever was thrown our way, but defeat it with ease.

As I watched her violently beat Sparky into submission, I grinned and promised myself that I would make her aware of my revelations later. After all, it was kind of funny watching her get all riled up.


	15. Chapter 14: November 7th 20XX

Nov 7th 20XX

Once all of the excitement was over, I was restless to get a move on. Sparky, we put back into his pokeball; partly because we were tired of his shenanigans for one day and partly to minimize any more confrontations with Phoenix. While I checked the map before we headed out, Phoenix resumed her seat on my shoulder and I chuckled remembering our morning adventures.

"Hey Nix? Are you sure my shoulder isn't too high for you? I mean after you got your cute kitten self treed this morning. I thought the ground might seem more appealing after that."

She groaned and said "Tori? You know that thing you're trampling all over? Yeah, that would be my dignity. "

I chuckled and replied "And it's an adorable little dignity too."

She frowned, "...You suck. I don't suppose you're going to forget about that little incident any time soon are you?"

I tilted my head back to look at her and grin, "Nope, not on your life. I think that is a memory I shall hold dear and treasure for a very long time."

Nix face palmed and sighed, "Yeah, I was afraid you were going to say that. Soooo…. did you want to keep tormenting me and burn up some more day light or did you want to get a move on, Toriori?" Ah, Nix was trying to subtly change the topic. Well, subtle for her anyway.

"Alright, I'm done. For now, at least." I chuckled at Phoenix's second groan and started making my way down the path the map claimed would lead us out of the forest. Several hours later around high noon I noticed the trees were starting to thin out some. "Hey, Nix? We're getting close to civilization; I think you need to get into disguise so to speak."

During the walk Phoenix and I had passed the time by discussing how we would interact with other people in this world so we would bring the least amount of attention to ourselves and thereby, hopefully, avoid the risk of outing Phoenix as the legendary, Mew. Less attention was good for the both of us so we thought it best if Phoenix stayed in her Ditto form to fool other people and not shift to her Mew form under any circumstances. Although knowing her, that wouldn't happen.

I didn't think many people or trainers would notice Phoenix wasn't a Ditto, but I was worried her eyes might give it away if someone looked a little too closely at her. "Got it, Tori. One Ditto-esque thing coming right up." I saw the flash of light from her change and looked back after it passed to find my dear friend Phoenix the odd-eyed Ditto staring back at me from my vests hood.

Smiling as I continued on walking, I said "Ok, let's practice you talking like a Pokémon, Nix. Say 'ditto' with some feeling." No, of course I was not enjoying making best friend say something silly… Well, not much anyway.

"For the record, Tori, I do agree with you about blending in but this feels absolutely, utterly, and completely ridiculous! … … Ditto."

I chuckled as we came out onto a paved road, "Oh come on, Nix! That was the most lame sounding ditto in the history of PokéEarth and you know it. What if we run into a Pokémon Professor in Goldenrod? You are so not gonna fool one with that pathetic Ditto call."

We were almost to the city; I could see it now rising in the distance over the horizon. Phoenix gave a snort of disbelief and replied "Oh 'come on' yourself, Tori. According to cannon, there's only one Professor who even goes to Goldenrod and that's Professor Oak. He does that radio show thing with Mary so he'd be too busy to notice us anyway and the odds of another Professor-...oh just fuck my life. "

I stopped at Phoenix's language until I noticed a large sign across an archway on the main road to the city right in front of us. It read in big, bold, cheerfully, and damning letters 'Welcome all Pokémon Professors to the 10th Annual Professor Convention'

I groaned, "Damn it..."

Phoenix thunked her head, or what I assumed her head was, against my shoulder. "We are _so_ fucking screwed!"


	16. Chapter 15: November 8th 20XX

A word from the authors: We would like to just take a moment to thank everyone who has reviewed, favorited, followed, or just plain read our story, We appreciate it and for those of you who have left us feedback, you get brownies because everyone gives cookies and we chose to be difficult and do something different. So, without further ado, here's the new chapter.

* * *

Nov 8th 20XX

I stared at the sign and sighed. "Well this could be a little tricky."

Phoenix gave me a look from around my shoulders, a look that in her human form I would have equated to a raised eyebrow and skeptical gaze. Somehow, I could always read her expressions no matter what form she was in. "Tricky, Tori? You know, I think that's a bit of an understatement. So much so that it may even qualify for the understatement of the year award. This place is gonna be crawling with professors and their assistants, not to mention trainers trying to talk to them."

I gave her a reassuring smile and said, "Who will all have to go through me to get to you because I'm your trainer. It'll be ok, Nix, I promise."

She sighed and replied, "It's a good thing I trust you so much, Tori, or I'd be having a major panic attack right about now."

Inside I cringed with a pang of guilt thinking Phoenix shouldn't trust me because it might be entirely my fault she was in this mess. Out loud I said, "I'm glad you trust me, Nix. Don't worry, I'll do the talking you just hang back and look like a sweet and innocent ditto."

Nix grinned at me in a somewhat deranged and maniacal way, interrupting my self-loathing thoughts by commenting, "Sweet and innocent? You mean like this?'

I chuckled lightly and groaned, "That isn't going to fool anyone, Nix! That face makes you look like a serial killer."

She threw her blobby head back and cackled evilly, "Mission accomplished! Changing gears, shall we get this nightmare over and done with, Tori? We were going to find the Pokémon Center and see if we could find lodging for the night just like how it was in the anime right?"

I nodded, "Yeah, and maybe get a meal and some info on what's going on in town. With this convention going on, hopefully it won't throw us off too much."

Our original plan was to go to the Pokémon Center, it had been the first thing we had discussed on our journey through the forest; partly because of the lodgings and food, but also because the Pokémon Center was like a library of Pokémon pictures and data per the canon. We both needed to brush up on the Pokémon world in general if we were going to improve our chances of surviving. Finally, Pokémon Centers provided free support for all trainers, something Phoenix and I really needed at the moment since we had no money. I always wondered how trainers in the show and game got by without any currency. I didn't want to learn firsthand, but apparently the universe saw fit to give us a crash course. Considering how our luck has been recently, I shouldn't have been surprised.

Taking a deep breath I said "Ok Nix, here we go."

We made our way into the city. As we got farther in, the variety of people and Pokémon here in real life was simply astounding. I had to fight the urge to gape like a tourist and it wasn't easy. There was definitely the presence of many Pokémon Professors and their assistants as I spotted many a white lab coat as we made our way through the streets of Goldenrod. Thanks to a helpful trainer, we got directions to the Pokémon Center.

Inside I saw quite a crowd gathered around the central desk where I could plainly see Nurse Joy. Something was wrong though as she was bowing and apologizing profusely "I'm so very sorry everyone, but due to the convention we have no more spare beds at the moment. We would be very happy to help heal your Pokémon though or offer you any other services. I'm so sorry for any inconveniences this causes you."

I groaned and face palmed "Fuckerdoodle."

Phoenix in what I assumed was a bit of sympathy and irony simply agreed with me and, with a wry grin, said "Ditto."


	17. Chapter 16: November 9th 20XX

Nov 9 20XX

Nix and I made our way to another part of the Pokémon center that looked like a cafeteria for trainers and their Pokémon. Phoenix and I needed to think of a new game plan and I figured it might as well be over a hot meal. Amazingly, to me at least, they served Pokémon and human food together. I got a selection of both, partially thinking Phoenix would like it and partially to blend in better.

Thankfully, I found us a secluded booth in a back corner near a wall of windows. Nobody could clearly see us from there thanks to a large decorative plant and with the loud roar of human and Pokémon voices, no one could easily hear us either. It was a fair sized booth and I put Phoenix on the table seeing how the chair was too low and the booster seats some of the Pokémon were using seemed like something a toddler would use and if I suggested she use one there was a good chance she'd maul me. In front of Phoenix, I placed one of the plates of Pokémon food. "Here you go, Nix. Try this out, see if you like it. To me it looked like chocolate. Sort of."

She looked at the food skeptically before poking it with what I assumed was a hand, the food jiggled slightly on the plate and her gelatinous form took on a slightly green cast. She took a tentative bite before promptly spitting it out and hacking. "Dear sweet mother of the gods, what mad scientists dumpster did they find that abomination in?!"

I chuckled at Phoenix's exclamation, thinking her reaction was an exaggeration. "Oh come on Nix, it can't be that bad. Lemme try it."

I reached out for a piece and took a small piece of my own. I took a tentative nibble and gagged as the horrifying taste filled my mouth. "Oh dear lord, that's foul!" I cried out spitting it out into a napkin while I tried to finish getting out the last of the taste with a friendly drink I had at hand. Finally free of the nastiness I said, "Pokémon actually enjoy that? What are they crazy or tongue dead?" I looked over at Phoenix who was chewing on something that looked pretty tasty. Wait a minute… That's my steak! "Nix, that's mine!"

She chuckled as she continued to chew. "You snooze, you lose, Toriori, I'd say I'm sorry, but I'm not. Besides, this is infinitely tastier than that horrible excuse for food."

She took another bite and savored it in a taunting manner; amused, but irritated, I said "Give it back, Nix!"

She stuck out her tongue (who knew Ditto's even had tongues?) and replied "Nope, mine now."

The next thing Phoenix knew, there was a piece of chocolate cake smooshed in her face. She looked at me astonished, "Astoria... Did you just pie me?"

I grinned and said "That's what you get for steak stealing!"

I saw the plate of food coming before she threw it and I ducked before it hit me. I heard it splat and cringed at the yelp of surprise from an older male voice. I turned and saw to my horror that Phoenix had just pied Professor Rowan; two other professors, who I identified as Juniper and Oak were right behind him holding trays of food looking half amused and half shocked. Rowan, however, looked pissed through the pieces of strawberry pie dripping down his face.

"Oh hell." I mumbled.

Phoenix, being the eternally helpful, polite, and nice person she was, reacted by falling over and cackling insanely; her blobby body quivering as she indulged in what I believe was the Ditto equivalent of rolling around laughing hard enough to bust a rib.

* * *

A/N: We would like to apologize for the delay in posting of this chapter.


	18. Chapter 17: November 10th 20XX

Nov 10 20XX

I watched as the pie dripped down Rowan's face and thought, ironically, its red strawberry color matched the color his face was swiftly turning in what I supposed was suppressed anger. Having some napkins handy I grabbed a handful and tried to clean up some of the mess.

"Professor, I'm so sorry! My Pokémon didn't mean to hit you." I looked behind me with a glare as said Pokémon was still laughing hard enough to make her whole Ditto body jiggle with mirth. In between her gleeful shaking, and after I had moved away from Professor Rowan, I managed to clean off the chocolate cake that I had shoved in her face mere moments before.

Looking back at the professors I apologized again, "I'm so very sorry about my Pokémon's bad behavior. My name is Astoria and this is my Ditto, Phoenix, or Nix for short. She's my first Pokémon and this is our very first journey so we are still training."

Juniper and Oak perked up their ears when I said first time trainer. "Hello there. A new trainer, how wonderful! Do you have a pokedex yet?" Oak said as he smiled at me.

I shook my head. Juniper gave him a look that said 'back off this one is mine'. Then I had a fun thought cross my mind. Did the professors compete with each other for new trainers to use their pokedex? That was definitely an idea to file away for later.

I smiled at the three professors and said "Why don't we discuss the pokedex over lunch? I feel really bad for my Pokémon's actions. Please let me make it up to you and come sit at our table. All the other ones are so full; you must be hungry and I've been holding you up here."

I looked back at Nix who was still giggling her ass off. I picked up Phoenix and set her in my lap after giving her head a smart rap to remind her to behave herself. Her response to said rap was to whine and start pouting. Once all of us were settled in the booth, I smiled at each professor in turn and said "Again, I'm very sorry about the pie; especially to you, Professor Rowan."

He huffed, looking a little annoyed and said "I suppose accidents do happen."

Thankfully, it seems he got most of what was left of the pie off of his face. Juniper distracted me though and said "Astoria, you did say you were a new trainer, correct? Well, if you need a pokedex, you should take one of my cross transceivers, commonly called xtransceivers. Not only are they a pokedex, they also work to communicate with trainers and other professors around the world. They're so much better than the original, old pokedex." She gave the Professors a look as she said this.

Oh yeah, my guesses were right, the professors definitely competed. Juniper reached into a pocket in her lab coat and pulled out what looked like an xtransiever. She handed it to me and I took it with a smile. "Are you sure it's okay for me to take this?"

Juniper smiled and nodded "Please, it's our duty as professors to help you trainers. And you all do so much for us by gathering information that helps us further our research."

Professor Oak nodded and said "Juniper is right. Without you trainers, there wouldn't be much for us professor's to research. It's just lucky that we ran into you here. We're giving lectures here at the convention and we all had a break in between our lectures and decided to grab some lunch together."

I smiled at them and said "Yes, it was lucky for me and Nix, since I did need a pokedex. Now I only need a little more luck to find a place to stay tonight. With the convention, unfortunately the Pokémon Center is all filled up."

I paused speaking since I noticed Rowan was staring intently at Phoenix. Stifling a major flare of anxiety over our possibly blown cover, I nervously asked the professor, "Professor Rowan sir, is there something wrong? You're looking at Nix a little funny."

I could feel Phoenix freeze in my arms as terror flooded through her. It would be so bad if Professor Rowan figured out what Phoenix really was. He paused and seemed to contemplate my question. Finally he replied "There's something...odd about your Ditto."

I froze at his words, fear and guilt raging within me. This was it, he was gonna see something wasn't right with Phoenix and then we were done for. "Yes, there is definitely something different about it. In fact, I believe this is the smallest Ditto I've ever seen. Did it hatch this tiny or have you not been feeding it properly?" Then adding, insult to injury, he started poking Phoenix.

Before I could save the situation, Phoenix screamed out in defiant rage "_Tiny_!? I'll show you tiny, you son of a bitch!" I wasn't sure which thing it was that snapped the fragile and tenuous grip she had on her temper and homicidal tendencies, the insults or the poking, but Phoenix snarled and lunged for Professor Rowan's neck. For the next several minutes, it was all I and the other professors could do to stop Phoenix from tearing out Rowan's throat.

Well, Pokémon or not, for better or for worse, it seems that some things never change.


	19. Chapter 18: November 11th 20XX

Nov 11 20XX

A half hour and many close calls later, I had finally calmed Phoenix down and we had all moved to a private room at the Pokémon center. Phoenix's attack on Rowan had managed to spill over into the main cafeteria and ensnare the other diners. A large room full of aggravated Pokémon and trainers easily encouraged us to move out of their line of sight. Hence the new location… Oh, and the matter of Nurse Joy treating Professor Rowan for numerous lacerations to the head and neck.

Simply put, he looked like he'd been locked in a small room with a very angry cat, seeing as Phoenix had managed to sprout claws from her Ditto hands to maul the professor. I sat quietly on the other side of the room holding a still angry Phoenix, her form slightly trembling with suppressed rage. I, on the other hand, was fighting off a panic attack because Phoenix, uncaring in her fury, had screamed at Rowan and shouted several obscenities and anatomically unlikely, if not impossible, suggestions loud enough for all the trainers, and quite possibly the entire city, to hear. I was so scared someone was going to come and try to take Phoenix away from me. I would die before I let them touch her, but my brain was furiously trying to think of other options or ways out.

My chaotic and terrified thoughts were interpreted by a cry of pain from Rowan as Joy applied more antiseptic to his face while Oak chuckled, though tried to hide it behind his hand pretending to cough. He and Juniper had trooped into the room with us just in case Phoenix got violent and needed to be restrained again, but suddenly it dawned on me that they were also amused at Rowan's expense. Said professor glared at Oak and the smirking Juniper.

"You two think this is so darn funny why exactly?" He grumbled at them.

Oak coughed again fighting out right laughter and replied, "I'm sorry to say this to you, Rowan, but you deserved that not only insulting Nix, but you touched her without either Astoria or Nix's permission. You're lucky she didn't transform into something like a Feraligatr and try to eat you."

I felt Phoenix go still and without even looking, I knew she was smiling sadistically at the idea and was seriously considering it, if not preparing to transform already. I squeezed her to give her a reminder that I was right here and said very softly, just for her ears "Not on your life, Nix. Don't even think about it."

She muttered back in an equally quiet, but much more deadly tone, "What about on _his_ life?"

I shook my head at her, turning my attention back to Oak who had continued to speak while I was getting a grip on Phoenix's temper. "You, like any professor, know what not to do when interacting with Pokémon. You broke two major rules and this is the consequence."

I was listening to this all and very confused as to why they were focusing on Rowan's actions rather than Phoenix being a talking Pokémon? Was it possible that they couldn't understand her? Desperate, I whispered to Phoenix "Tell Rowan what you really think of him, loudly Nix."

She looked up at my face with 'have you lost your mind?' clearly written across her features, but I nodded with a serious look right back. Looking right over at Rowan, Phoenix shouted "Hey! Jackass! If you want my opinion on the matter, I think you're an asshole! You should count yourself lucky cause if they hadn't stopped me, you would've suffered beyond what your feeble mind can comprehend and would never have gotten the chance to live til tomorrow!"

I froze waiting for the Professors and Joy's reactions. Everyone except Rowan laughed. Juniper chuckled and said smiling "Its days like this that I wish we could understand the Pokémon language because I'm fairly positive that was quite the insult to our Professor Rowan here. Maybe someday, someone will be able to invent a translation app for the pokedex."

Oak nodded at Juniper's comment and added "Until that day, I love how trainers and Pokémon seem to always be able to span the language gap and understand not only each others meanings, but their hearts as well." He looked at me and Phoenix and said "Despite your short time together, I can see you and your Nix have a strong bond. That will take you two far in the Pokémon league. If you have that strong a bond with your other Pokémon then you'll be sure to have many happy experiences with your Pokémon."

I smiled at him and nodded thanking him and Professor Juniper for their kind words. I didn't care much about anything at the moment besides the relief that Phoenix was still safe. It seemed only I could understand her.

At the mention of other Pokémon, I felt a vibration in my pocket and looked down to see a red light coming out. Then suddenly Sparky showed up squeaking happily. I smiled down at him and said "Well Sparky, did you want to come out and say hello? This is Professor Oak and Professor Juniper. Over there is Nurse Joy and Professor Rowan. Professors, this is my only other Pokémon, a Pikachu as you can see. I named him Sparky."

Sparky looked across the room happily chittering at all of us. Then he got a look at Nurse Joy and before I could even say 'oh my gosh', Sparky was clamped onto her chest, nuzzling his face into her breasts while trilling happily. Phoenix was out of my arms and pummeling the female obsessed Pokémon within the next heartbeat.

"Bad Pikachu! Didn't you learn _anything_ last time?! No, clearly not if you dare to disobey me again! Now you're going to wish I was merciful enough to kill you last time!"

I sighed and looked apologetically at Nurse Joy and the gaping, horrified professors. "I'm sorry to bother you Nurse Joy, but do you think you could heal Sparky in about five minutes? I think Nix will be finished by then. Maybe. I hope."

As I looked at the Ditto mauling the foolish Pikachu yet again, I idly wondered if Phoenix could suffocate Sparky with her blobby hand that far down his throat.


	20. Chapter 19: November 12th 20XX

Nov 12 20XX

It ended up that Phoenix's maiming of Sparky only lasted about four minutes. Sparky had fainted by then or maybe he did the smart thing and just played dead. Either way Nurse Joy was kind enough to heal him and get him back to me in very short order. In the lobby, I discreetly cleaned the blood off of Phoenix thinking that she might disturb or frighten other trainers and Pokémon if they saw her.

At the entrance to the center I said my goodbyes to Nurse Joy and the professors. Sparky, fine after being healed, was examining everything around the center with curious eyes. Phoenix was back on my shoulder and seemed happier for having vented some of her frustrations on Sparky. To the professors, I bowed and apologized "Again, I'm sorry about Nix's behavior and very grateful for your help."

Professor Oak smiled at me and said "You're welcome, Astoria. I hope you and your Pokémon have a wonderful journey. Oh and before I forget may I see your xtransceiver a moment?"

I nodded and, though confused, I handed it to him. He pressed some buttons for a minute then smiled and handed it back to me. "There. Now if you need help or advice, you have my number and Professor Juniper's as well. I feel like there is something special about you and Nix, Astoria. I know to follow these hunches when I have them. I'm looking forward to hearing about your progress."

Juniper chimed in and said "Yes, please do call us if you need someone to help you figure out a Pokémon problem. Also, I remember you saying that you didn't have a place to stay correct? Well, I happen to know this older couple who runs the Pokémon and children's daycare. They always have spare beds. I'm sure they would be happy to let you stay. I'll call ahead for you to let them know you're coming."

I smiled wide and said happily "Wow! Really? Oh thank you both so much! I can't even find the words, I'm so happy. Nix, Sparky and I really appreciate your help even after all the trouble we put you though when you must be so busy with the convention."

I smiled warmly at them when Professor Oak gasped "Oh my, what time is it? Oh darn it! Juniper, we have to go now or we'll be late for our next lecture. I apologize for running like this, but here take this ticket to our lecture for the day after tomorrow. I'm sure you'll find it interesting. It's on the co-existence of Pokémon and humans and the effects of humans and our possible influence on different Pokémon species being found. Goodbye for now, Astoria, Nix and you too Sparky!"

With that Oak and Juniper ran off together, trying to make it to their lecture on time. I, amused, showed Phoenix the ticket. "Think we should go, Nix? I know you're not a fan of huge crowds."

Phoenix shrugged and said plainly "I can't say I'm a fan of them, but this discussion, class, lecture, whatever, does sound interesting. Besides, we need all the information we can get. I'm game if you are, Tori."

The sound of a male voice clearing his throat behind me made me turn and come face to face with a serious surprise. It was Professor Rowan and he looked a little worse for wear thanks to Phoenix's earlier attack. He cleared his throat and said glumly "It's been brought to my attention I have behaved badly. I'm sorry to you both, but especially your Pokémon, Nix."

Phoenix, being her understanding and forgiving self, stuck her tongue out at the professor in response. I replied "No apologies needed, Professor. I'm sorry that Nix hurt you."

He huffed and there was an awkward pause before he finally said "Well, I should be going as well. I have a lecture to speak at. Goodbye Astoria and you as well Nix."

I sighed, relieved beyond belief that he was gone and that there was no more chaos likely to happen at that time. Then I looked down at Sparky to see he was holding something and looking up at me smiling as he held it out to me. I took it from him confused as I discovered it was a wallet. Phoenix looked over my shoulder intrigued and said "Well now, what do we have here? Our little kleptomaniac might not be so irritating after all. Look, he brought you a present." She pondered for a moment before grinning, "I think you've earned the title of Kleptochu."

She listened to him chitter at us and then translated for my benefit. "He says he's very sorry for earlier. I'd also like to add he's refering to and calling me Evil Mistress now; I suppose I earned that, not that I'm complaining. Apparently he also likes his new title." Sparky chattered some more at Phoenix and whatever he said made her laugh hysterically. She laughed so hard she nearly fell off my shoulder. "Tori, open the wallet. This is a riot."

I opened it and gasped at the ID inside. It was Professor Rowan's driver license. "We have to find a way to get this back to him! Oh, Sparky, how could you?" I said with a twinge of despair leaking out into my voice.

Phoenix snorted and said "Oh come on, Tori. We should take the cash. Sparky did us a favor, besides you know we need the money. He said the mean man's white pockets were super easy to pick." She took the wallet out of my hands and cackling with glee said "Come on, you know it'll be good revenge. If he treats everyone like that, not only did he have it coming, but I'd go so far as to call it karma."

I shook my head and said "No Nix, it's not right. I don't want to steal from people. We'll earn poke dollars the way other trainers do, by battling. In the meantime we can find an odd job to make some cash. For now, I'm turning this in to the lost and found here at the center."

She sighed heavily, "Fine, fine. I don't want your conscience weighed down by this."

I nodded and walked over to the information desk, giving it to the helpful receptionist. Phoenix sulked a bit, but I promised her I'd go through the backpack later and find her something sweet, like chocolate. Since our next stop was the library, I called Sparky back into his pokeball. The last thing we needed was to get thrown out because Sparky did something to piss Phoenix off again.

After that, Phoenix and I poured over as many books and magazines in the Pokémon library as we could to get ourselves reacquainted with all the data about this world and the Pokémon. Phoenix particularly focused on images of different Pokémon she liked so I knew she wanted more forms to change into.

She tried to find Mewtwo, but as I reminded her no one had pictures of Mewtwo because he was a secret Pokémon. She pouted, but agreed with my assessment. Really, sometimes her obsession with that Pokémon was a little ridiculous. There was limited data on the legendaries of course, though much to Phoenix's delight we found images of Ho-oh and, more importantly to her, Lugia. I chuckled at Phoenix's delight that she could transform into one of her favorite Pokémon.

After we were tired of researching for the day, we got the information desk to give us directions to the daycare. We made our way there, feeling better about our whole situation ... At least until we got to the daycare center. There, we came to an average sized blue house with two stories and a huge yard enclosed by a solid looking white fence. Inside the yard was lots of play equipment like swings and climbing structures. That wasn't the really interesting thing though. All the children and baby Pokémon running around talking, laughing and screaming was what got my immediate attention.

We would have to go through that gauntlet of tiny tots to reach the front door. I felt Phoenix on my shoulder quivering in fear. "Oh dear gods, why us? There are plague bearers all over the place in there, Tori!" She said, her voice wavering slightly before she ended her statement in a whimper.

I chuckled and said "Oh come on, Nix. I know you don't like munchkins much, but it's not like they can hurt us."

"Famous last words." She muttered.

I ignored her and continued, "And we need a place to stay for now. Juniper said to come here. So here we shall go."

I opened the gate and shut it behind us to keep the little ones from escaping. The baby Pokémon and little humans froze and stared at us for a heartbeat. I spotted kids from every race I could think of and baby Pokémon from Igglybuff, Clefa, and Pichu to a Munchlax not to mention a whole score of other types of Pokémon.

Suddenly a rather mean looking toddler smiled evilly and pointed at us, saying loudly, "Look, new toys!"

The toddlers and Pokémon cheerfully roared and charged us en masse. Phoenix and I martialed our courage, looked at the approaching horde, and screamed in terror like little girls while making a break for it, racing to the front door as if Death himself were hot on our heels.


	21. Chapter 20: November 13th 20XX

Nov 13 20XX

Now where was I? Oh yes, Phoenix and I were trying to outrun a hoard of little humans and baby Pokémon that had decided that we were new toys to play with while screaming in terror. Well, I was trying to outrun them while Phoenix clung to my shoulder yelling "Faster, Tori! For the love of whatever you deem holy, run faster! Oh gods, they're gonna get us!"

This was easier said than done as my path couldn't be more of a zigzag, seeing as I had to dodge tots and random toy debris in my valiant effort to reach the apparent safety of the house. It seemed futile, we had to do something or at this rate, they would overtake us. As if sensing my thoughts Phoenix reached down a started fishing around in my vest pocket and pulled out a pokeball which I quickly realized was Sparky's. To the ball Phoenix said, "Sorry, Sparky. It's nothing personal and you would have made a good minion, with the proper training, but this is survival of the evilest and in our group, I am most definitely that."

She tossed Sparky's ball into the midst of the horde and I managed to catch a glimpse of the Pikachu coming out of his ball with a chirp of confusion before they engulfed him in their tiny bodies, screeching in delight. I felt a little bad for him, but the desire to live overrode that feeling as I made it to the door and opened it to find an elderly gentleman looking at Phoenix and I in confusion.

He smiled at us after a moment and said "Would you happen to be Nix and Astoria? I just received a call about you from Professor Juniper. Welcome to our daycare center. My name is Tom. Did you already meet the little ones outside? Its recess time right now."

I nodded and tried to be polite. "Yes, I'm Astoria, or Tori if you'd rather, and this is my partner, Nix. We did run into the little tikes outside. They were very... friendly." I was trying to be nice and not insult our host. Mentioning that we thought his charges were going to eat us would not be nice and would insult our host, thus I kept my thoughts silent.

"Friendly my ass! Those tiny monsters tried to eat us alive! What kind of hellspawn are you raising here?!" Phoenix growled, voicing my thoughts and as well as adding her own personal twist.

I was once again reminded of how very glad I was that I was the only one who could understand Phoenix. Tom smiled at Phoenix and said "My, what a talkative Ditto."

I chuckled dryly, "You have no idea."

"That isn't your only Pokémon, is it? I thought Professor Juniper said something about you having a Pikachu as well?" He inquired curiously while smiling at my comment.

I replied hesitantly, "Um, yes...My Pikachu, Sparky uh… he wanted to play with the babies."

I suddenly heard a frantic clawing and panicked chittering at the door, creating what was no mistake a desperate plea for help. "Ah, I think that's him now."

I turned, opening the door and Sparky rushed in looking tired, terrified and plenty worse for wear. He was missing patches of fur in random spots and I spotted two pieces of candy struck to his fur. His breathing was hard and agitated while he looked around, carefully eying his surroundings; no doubt to see if there were more toddlers around, be they Pokémon or humans. When he saw the coast was clear he slumped to the floor in what I took to be relief. He muttered something in Pokémon to which Phoenix replied with disdain, "Oh stop being so melodramatic, you're fine. I beat you worse than that just over an hour ago."

He chittered something back, but before Phoenix could translate again Tom started talking to me "Well, that must be your Pikachu. What a handsome little fellow. Now then, since we're all together, let me show you where you will be staying."

I followed Tom through the house which looked just as average on the inside as it did outside, much to my relief. There was a living room which opened into a dining room and an open kitchen where two young woman and an elderly lady stood, preparing a meal. From the kitchen window, you could easily view the front yard where there were now two adults with the children and tiny Pokémon, clearly playing with them. Some other adults were coming up to the front gate. They looked like happy people, probably either parents of children or trainers for the Pokémon.

Tom introduced the two cooks as his granddaughters, Sally and Mae. They both worked at the daycare and the older woman was his wife, Jill. I paused for a moment, thinking how surreal it was. I was in a Pokémon game and talking to the elderly egg couple. My thoughts were interrupted when Tom said "Now that introductions are over with, I can show you your room and the rest of the house. Then, once you're ready, we'll all have a nice dinner together."

I smiled warmly and replied "Thank you so much for your kindness, Tom. My Pokémon and I are really grateful for you putting us up like this."

Tom chuckled good-naturedly and said "It's no problem for us. You see, we love Pokémon and trainers. Seeing Pokémon and kids happy makes all of us much happier. I was a trainer in my youth and so was my wife. That's how we met actually, so we try to give back to the next generation of trainers when we can."

Tom's story touched me and I thought to myself that there were some really nice people here on Pokè Earth. Pleasantries aside, Tom took us upstairs from the kitchen to the second floor. There he led us past three other rooms. The bedrooms he and his family shared, I assumed. At the end of the hall was another bedroom, this one with its own bathroom. It was tastefully decorated and the furnishings were nice as well; a bed, chair, nightstand, and even dresser with mirror, everything someone might need. I was surprised and extremely grateful.

"Now that you've seen the room, I'll leave you to relax for a bit before dinner is ready." He said, his tone gentle.

I nodded and said "That would be wonderful. Thanks, Tom. I know I'd love to wash up and I'm sure after playing with the kids, Sparky could use a quick bath."

I chuckled, noticing that Sparky was already trying to clean himself like a cat would; by licking his fur, although it wasn't helping much as far as getting the lollipops off was concerned. Tom nodded with a knowing smile and left me to it. I set the bag on the bed and turned to immediately shut and lock the door. I, a little bit paranoid even if the paranoia was perfectly justified, also closed the blinds even though I could see a beautiful sunset over Goldenrod from the window. I set Phoenix carefully on the bed and said to her "Ok, Nix; the coast is clear. You can go back to normal for a bit. Besides, I'm gonna need your help getting Sparky cleaned up for dinner.

She spoke as she shifted "Damn, it's good to have opposable thumbs again. I never thought I'd miss being furry, tiny, and pink. Wait, did you just say you want me to help you with Sparky?"

I nodded, "Many hands make light work."

"Aww… Come on, Tori. Why do I have to wash the electric rat? He's fine! Well… except for the missing fur and the candy and the PTSD, hmm, I guess that's… nah he's fine."

Sparky's whimper of pain as he tried to pull the lollipop off his fur by the stick made me feel bad for the little guy, even Phoenix's eyes softened before she checked herself. I started rummaging around in the great bag of holding until I found a Pokémon brush and shampoo.

"You have to help because you tossed him to those babies and that makes you responsible. If it was you, I would make him help too. Now here." I handed her a wash cloth and the brush while I picked up Sparky with a towel in one hand and the shampoo in the other. I figured it would be easier for Phoenix to carry the lighter stuff.

Phoenix grumbled in an annoyed way, muttering about how she would have turned into something that could fly and thrown me to the wolves if had been her, even though we both knew she would never do that to me, but followed me into the adjoining bathroom anyway; floating through the air as it was easier to get around that way. To Sparky, I said "You, Mr. Sparky, are to keep your paws to yourself. If your paws go anywhere they shouldn't again, Nix will probably try to drown you in your own bath water."

Phoenix chuckled darkly, "It's only trying if I don't succeed."

He chittered in a terrified way and Phoenix laughed in a much more normal manner, then translated "He promises to behave himself if we keep the baby monsters away from him and get him clean."

I chuckled and replied "Ok Sparky, we'll do that. No sparking either! We don't want to get shocked, what with all the water."

And so I found myself washing an electric mouse with my best friend who just happened to be a psychic, flying cat for the time being. I sighed, my life was so strange.


	22. Chapter 21: November 14th 20XX

A/N: Ok, I know it's not Saturday. However, since I will not be able to post the new chapter on Saturday like I usually do, I'm posting it now for you, our beloved readers to enjoy. We'd like to thank everyone who followed and favorited, for those of you who were kind enough to take the time to review, you're reward is at the bottom of the page, after the chapter.

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Nov 14 20XX

After we got Sparky cleaned up, he actually looked pretty good, all things considered and the patches where his fur was missing didn't look as bad as they did when he had first escaped the children. I figured a couple of days and the fur would grow back as good as new. Once Phoenix and I finished our own cleaning up and prep work, meaning me cleaning myself up and Phoenix prepping by changing back into a Ditto, the three of us trooped down to dinner with Tom and his family.

It actually was a very nice dinner. It was an Asian hot pot style meal which Phoenix and I both loved to eat back home. On top of that, Tom and his wife told us funny stories about their journey days back when they were young. They had even Phoenix laughing, which sounded odd in her Ditto form, which made me laugh all on its own. I even shared a few stories from my childhood, slightly edited, but the humor was there and it made Tom and his family laugh. The long day finally caught up with us all though and we called it a night after helping Tom's family cleanup from the meal.

Phoenix, Sparky, and I got ready for bed and I was surprised, not to mention delighted, to find a comfy pair of PJs in our great backpack of holding. Someday soon I was going to figure out the limits of that bag and what it held. I had already experimented a little; like for instance it had potions, but when I checked for things like antidote or paralyze heal, the bag didn't seem to have any. On that subject, I must remember, when I get some money, to buy those things. If we were going to do any amount of traveling, odds were good that we'd need them. Turning to Phoenix, now back in her Mew form, who was getting comfy on a pillow, I said "Remind me tomorrow to do two things? We need to test out the backpack's limits and we need to find a job or another trainer to earn some poke dollars for supplies."

Phoenix nodded and said, "Got it, Tori. It is now filed away in my brain. Whether or not I can find the file in the morning, however, is another matter entirely. You know, I must say I am curious as well about what that bag could be holding..."she paused, seemingly deep in thought while staring at the bag as she seemed to contemplate it.

I could practically see ideas working in her mind. I was about to ask her what she was thinking when I spotted Sparky on the floor making puppy eyes at me. He chittered at me then pointed to the bed. "Do you want to sleep in the bed with us, Sparky?"

He smiled and nodded chattering more. I looked at Phoenix and said "Translation, please?"

Phoenix listened to him a minute and chuckled, "He promised to be good, he just wants to sleep at the end of the bed. He says that the floor is cold."

I sighed and said "Alright Sparky, but you be good or else I'll give you to Nix again. Here..."

I picked him up, placed him on the end of the bed, and put one of the poke blankets on him, "Now keep your paws to yourself and stay there."

He nodded at me with a cute little chu-like sound, before curling up right where he was. I sighed and smiled at him, watching as he quickly fell asleep. "It's hard to believe we only caught him today. He is sorta cute when he's sleeping like that."

Phoenix snorted and replied "Yeah, if you forget that he's a womanizing letch, and while I may not like fluffy little things as much as you, even I have to admit he could be cute. But the fact that I had to maul him twice today for groping women kinda takes away from the cuteness factor. "

She glanced at the bag again and once more I wondered if she was planning something, but a loud yawn from her adorable little Mew self distracted me and I chuckled "Go to sleep, Nix. Whatever you're plotting, it can wait till morning."

She gave me an amused smile in return, saying "You know me far too well, Toriori. But you're right, let's get some sleep; I'm tired."

She snuggled deeply into the other pillow I had, since she was so tiny it was a bed in and of itself. I stayed up a few extra minutes writing in this journal to keep up with events. Looking back and reading, it's hard to believe so much had happened in such a short amount of time. I couldn't help but wonder what tomorrow would bring.

The next morning, I awoke to the sounds of Phoenix cursing at something, giving Sparky directions, and something about how evil pink was. I got up, bleary eyed with sleep and stumbled towards the bathroom where the source of the noise was. I nearly tripped over my bag, which surprised me since I remember leaving it closed and on the dresser last night, but now here it was on the floor and open.

Now worried, I opened the door to find a sight that had me shocked and, for a moment, at a complete loss for words. There was black dye all over the tub and shower, paw prints and globs of it were everywhere. In the middle of this mess was Phoenix, with Sparky standing over her holding a near empty bottle of what looked like black hair dye. Some more of it dripped out of the bottle to fall on Phoenix' s head. Instead of staying on her and dying her fur however, it dripped off of her Mew fur like water to add another stain to the tub. Phoenix and Sparky's backs were to me so they hadn't notice me there yet.

Sparky chittered at Phoenix and after a moment she replied "What do you mean it's still not sticking? This is ridiculous! This is supposed to be permanent hair dye! It's supposed to make my fur black! Damn it! I knew I should have just gone with India ink, but I thought this would work. I guess trying the India ink is next. Come on, my little kleptochu; we need to get this done before Tori wakes up and finds this mess we made or, odds are good, she's going to kill us. Hmm…If it comes down to a life or death situation, know that I'm placing all blame on you."

I cleared my throat at that moment, which alerted both Pokémon to my presence. My dear friend turned to me with a more than slightly guilty look on her face and said "Crap. So much for blaming Sparky. Uhhh… Good morning Tori, did you sleep well?"

I sighed and said "I was, until I heard this fiasco. What the heck did you think you were doing?"

She paused and said "I don't suppose telling you that you're still asleep and this is all a dream is going to work?"

I glared at her and tapped my foot impatiently. "Not at all. Now explain."

"Damn. Worth a shot, though. Well, I was trying to get my minion here to help me change my fur to black instead of this horrible pink. Needless to say, efforts thus far have been unsuccessful." She said, looking a bit sheepish and slightly annoyed.

I sighed and tiredly rubbed the bridge of my nose. "Nix, you shift forms on a regular basis now. Your secondary form, Ditto, is pink. And I think you forgot something very important about Mew's. The fur of a Mew is so fine that nothing really sticks to it. I doubt you could even get really dirty without serious effort in your Mew form."

I let that sink in for a moment and finally Phoenix said "Oh. Yeah, I had forgotten that. I don't suppose that India ink will work any better?"

I resisted the urge to growl at her. "No, it won't work any better."

"Damn it. Well, that sucks. So, you're saying that I can't escape the evil curse of pink?"

I sighed again and shook my head. Guilt wormed its way in again, but I pushed it back to deal with the issue at hand. "Now, you and Sparky stay in here and please clean up this mess, seeing as you two made it. I'm going to get dressed in the other room. Sparky, if you dare to even pop out your head before I'm done and you will not have a long future, if you get my drift."

I closed the door on both of them firm in my resolve to get myself dressed and ready for the day. I would be the first to admit that I'm a grumpy person when I get woken up before I'm ready. Although, I doubt anyone would be happy to be woken up abruptly. I heard more creative cursing coming from the bathroom and splashing water sounds that made me chuckle.

I picked out and put on a pair of tan shorts and green top before putting my vest of many pockets back on. As I pulled my hair back into a ponytail, I caught a glimpse of the sunshine outside and took a peek behind the curtain. The sun over the skyscrapers of Goldenrod was beautiful and I couldn't help but smile. Sometimes, in moments like this, I really loved being alive. Seeing beautiful sights like this truly made me appreciate my life.

The moment was short lived and shattered when I heard a male voice crying out and thudding falling sounds. Then I heard panicked female voices.

"Oh my gosh, Tom! Nix, I think Tom got hurt! Come on!" I shouted running into the bathroom, returning Sparky and barely giving her time to change into Ditto, before scooping her up and running downstairs.

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	23. Chapter 22: November 15th 20XX

A/N: Beloved readers! We would like to apologize profusely for the late posting of this chapter. Suffice to say yesterday was very busy and then we got sucked into a game of Cards Against Humanity and completely forgot what day it was. We would like to thank all of you for your understanding and will be bribing our way to forgiveness with tasty treats located after the chapter. Thank you again for your understanding!

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Nov 15 20XX

Nix and I rushed to the stairs fast as humanly possible. When we got to the top of them, we spotted Tom lying at the bottom of them his wife and granddaughters hovering over him making frightened sounds and comments.

"Oh gosh is he ok? Should we call a doctor?" I exclaimed, worried for the man who had shown us such kindness.

Tom's wife looked up at me and nodded "Yes, I'll do that now."

She hurried off just as Phoenix and I got to the bottom of the stairs. Tom was protesting and trying to get up. "Now all of you stop fussing. I'm fine, really... ow!"

Tom cried out as his leg gave out from under him when he tried to stand again. His granddaughters caught him before he hit the ground though and I got a good look at his right ankle it was swelling up fast. "I think he's hurt his ankle. If he didn't hurt anything else in the fall, we should get him to the couch and elevate his foot before it becomes a beach ball."

The girls nodded and together they were able to get him from the bottom of the stairs to the living room. Phoenix hung on my shoulder and up until that point and had been quietly watching everything. While they were trying to get poor Tom comfortable, Phoenix said "Hey Tori? What if I changed into an ice Pokémon and used an ice move to help with the swelling? The sooner we ice it the better, right?"

I nodded and smiled at Phoenix glad she had thought of that. I pulled out my pokedex and searched for a good ice type that wasn't too big for the living room with all its furniture. Finding one, I smiled and showed Phoenix the picture so she could have it in her mind.

She grumbled "Damn it Tori. Pink again? Really? Ugh, you are enjoying this way too much. Fine, fine, let's get this over with. "

She grumbled more as I set her down by Tom's elevated foot on the couch. "Nix wants to help you Tom, so just stay still and rest, ok? Nix, transform into a Smoochum please."

The usual light enveloped Phoenix's body and she was a Smoochum a second later. I smiled and said "Ok Nix, now use powder snow and very gently, only on his ankle or we might freeze him."

Nix nodded, puckered up her lips, and blew a chilly breath complete with what looked like small ice crystals and snowflakes right on Tom's swollen ankle. I heard a sigh of relief from Tom as his poor pain stretched face started to ease "Oh, thank you Nix and Astoria. That does feel better."

Just then Tom's wife Jill walked into the room phone in hand and said "Good news, the doctor is only a few minutes away. Oh my, what do we have here? Oh, thank you, Nix; that is very kind of you. Let me get a regular ice pack though so you don't wear yourself out..."

A gong sound from outside alerted us to visitors before she could finish speaking. One of the granddaughters looked outside "Oh Granny, children and Pokémon are arriving. We can't open up the center without grandpa though can we? One of us needs to stay in here and look after him as well. We'll be too short staffed in here to help him. And with two people in here we won't have enough people to run things properly and watch all the little ones."

She bit her lip nervously, trying to decide what they should do. Before thinking about what I was saying, I spoke up "We can help you out. Nix and me, I mean."

Phoenix stopped blowing her powder snow move to stare at me in shock "Tori, are you out of your flipping pixie stick addled mind?! Those little monsters nearly killed Sparky yesterday! They will eat us alive!"

I picked up Phoenix and chuckled "Oh look, see how excited Nix is? She can't wait to help... Nix, they took us into their home, fed and took care of us asking for nothing in return. You know this is the right thing to do." I said the last part quietly.

Phoenix looked at me, then at Tom lying on the couch, still hurting and sighed "Damn it, Tori! Why do you have to be my conscience? Ok, ok, we'll help them. But if I die, so help me gods, I'm coming back as a ghost type to torture you to insanity and eventual suicide."

I nodded and said "Conditions accepted. So let's do this."

I turned back to Jill "Ok, so what do you need us to do?"

…And that was how I found myself, Phoenix and a terrified Sparky alone in a classroom. We were sitting on a circular rug in the middle of the room, a mix of Pokémon and little humans staring at us intensely. There were about four toddler aged humans and five Pokémon. Jill had asked us to entertain the little ones while her granddaughters made them breakfast.

Phoenix poked her Ditto head around from behind my own and said "Tori… They're staring at us... With those big, empty, evil, soulless, eyes... Are they plotting to eat our souls because they have none?"

She was hiding most of herself behind me, though at least she poked her head out. Sparky was cowering in terror, chittering while he hid behind me. I actually baby sat enough back home not to be so intimidated by kids of any age, but I had never taken care of so many at once. "No, Nix. They just want love and attention. Let's teach them a new song."

I looked at the paper that Jill had left us to give us an outline for today's lesson. On it were some Pokémon nursery rhymes and a few songs. I smiled at the kids and said "Ok guys, let's try this song; little Miss Muffet sat in her tuffet, eating her curds and whey along came a Spinerack that..."

Before I could finish the song a little kid spoke up "What's urds and way, Miss Tori?" It was a little girl with a cute way of talking

"Curds and way, dear," I corrected gently, "and its cottage cheese or another name for it."

Some of the kids started saying 'eww' and making funny faces. In the increasing noise, the Pokémon started chattering, buzzing or hissing and a Rattata and an Ekans were eying each other in an unfriendly way.

Seriously how did they organize these classes? Who in their right mind would put a mouse and snake in a room together? Trying to diffuse the situation, I clapped my hands together and said "Ok guys, all done. Now, we have more songs to learn together before breakfast happens."

And that was about the time when one of the children started crying that he wanted his daddy and mommy then proceeded to have a kicking fit in which, like a horrible parody of a set of dominoes, accidentally kicked one of the Pokémon, a cute Teddiursa who fell over into another Pokémon and started to cry, that in turn scared the other kids and Pokémon who also started to fight or cry very loudly. The sounds were deafening.

When I saw the little Clefa start swinging its little arms I had a terrified thought Oh fuckerdoodle!"No, not metronome! Quick Nix, change to Squirtle and use bubble attack, fast."

I was very grateful at that moment Phoenix trusted me and did what I asked without argument. I think that was the fastest change she had done yet because one second she was a Ditto and the next blink she was a Squirtle blowing bubbles into the air. I knew the true power of bubbles with entertaining small children from before, I just hoped it worked the same with baby Pokémon.

I was very lucky I was right and they all stopped crying and fighting to stare mesmerized by the bubbles. They playfully popped them and I started to relax as laughing filled the room. I leaned back and sighed, relieved that we had averted disaster… At least for the moment. "Now, if we can just avoid dying for the rest of the day, then we'll be good."

Phoenix paused her bubble making and said "You know, Tori, duct tape would be a really good solution to dealing with these mini monsters. I could go get some from the bag of holding, I'm sure I saw some I'm the there."

I was so bad I actually considered it for a second, but shook my head "No, no... No duct tape." I glanced at a Chickorita using vine whip to pop bubbles versus a toddler next to it chasing them down using their hands. They were cute, but the damage one of those vine whips could do to a person like me was not a fun thought. "Maybe… No. Probably… No. No duct tape... Maybe."

Luckily, Tom's granddaughters arrived with breakfast for the munchkins and thoughts of duct tape went right out of my head for the time being as we made sure everyone was fed with a minimum of chaos and mess.

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And for your forgiveness for the late post, we would like all of our readers to help themselves to this dessert buffet bribe. Enjoy!


	24. Chapter 23: November 16th 20XX

Nov 16 20XX

Phoenix and I managed to survive the morning with the Pokémon and children, even managing through lunch. We were cleaning up afterwards and getting ready for nap time with the munchkins; it never ceased to amaze me how much of a mess a toddler can make with food in general, and apparently, Pokémon were just as bad. I was trying to scrub some dried out tomato sauce off one of the tables, the smell of bleach and scented soap hanging heavily in the air when suddenly I had a bad feeling. It was the kind of feeling where you know something isn't right, but you can't put your finger on what it is.

I looked around and saw Phoenix and two other day care people wrestling the little ones into napping spots. They were fine and so was Phoenix. A quick glance around the room told me the kids and Pokémon were fine too. So what was wrong? Then as I was putting away the cleaning product, it hit me. I did not see Sparky anywhere, nor did I remember when I had last seen him. That was not good. I looked over at Phoenix who was trying, with the help of another teacher, to corner an annoying tyke who did not want to nap. "Nix, have you seen Sparky at all?" My nervousness came through my voice despite my efforts.

She paused chasing the child to look at me. "Nope, I haven't seen my minion. I thought you put him back in his pokeball since I didn't see him, Tori." She went back to chasing him with a curse "Get over here you little plague monster before I get the duct tape."

I began quickly putting the cleaning supplies away as I said "You stay here Nix and guard the bag. It's there in the corner. I'm going to go make sure he's not getting into mischief."

With that, I headed out of the classroom. I walked down the hall, passing other rooms in different stages of getting ready for nap time as well. At the room at the far end of the hall I heard a noise and some yelling that sounded like one of Tom's granddaughters. I hurried there, thinking that it was a good chance Sparky was there. I got into the room and found a bit of a surprise, it was an egg holding room. There were shelves line with soft looking pillows and Pokémon eggs of all different patterns and colors sitting on them with warm heat lamps above to keep them toasty.

Things were a little chaotic at that moment though, since Jill's granddaughters were trying to catch Sparky as he was running around with a silver and white stripped egg. They were trying to do it carefully because they didn't want the shelf eggs harmed or the egg Sparky was holding to be dropped and cracked. "Okay, Sparky, no, put the egg down. You've already made such a mess of the egg labels." I could see different labels lying all over the floor, now that they had said something about it. "Please, don't drop the egg and damage it! I know that one doesn't have an owner, but it's still a living baby Pokémon! Don't be careless with it, please Sparky, just hand it over, we aren't angry."

I, on the other hand, was very mad at Sparky for causing such terrible trouble to these nice girls. "Sparky, I'm very not happy with you right now."

He froze at the sound of my voice and turned, looking at me with surprise. Then, like he hadn't been doing something very wrong, came over and held up the egg to me, looking happy as a clam. I took it and sighed looking at the girls. "I'm so sorry." I looked down at Sparky with a glare and pulled out his pokeball. "You, back inside. You've done enough damage today."

Into the pokeball he went and I looked at the girls apologetically "I'm so sorry. Please let me help you clean up this mess, it's the least I can do. He's my responsibility as his trainer."

They smiled at me and one said "Its ok, but we do appreciate the help. This shouldn't take long. We'll have this done lickity split and have you back to the classroom before you know it."

It took half an hour, actually, and during that time we ended up discussing the egg Sparky had handed me. It turned out they really had no owner for the egg. This surprised me a little and I remarked out loud looking at the egg "That's such a shame. If it's not around other Pokémon it will stay like this forever, won't it? "

One of the granddaughters nodded and said, while picking up and sorting labels, "Yes, it's so sad. Grandma and Grandpa have been trying to find a trainer for a while to take it and help it grow... Tori, I don't suppose you would want it?" She paused what she was doing, looking at me hopefully.

I looked down at egg in my arms and almost said no, but something about that silver and white egg called to me; like it was supposed to be mine. It felt warmer in my touch like it agreed with my thoughts and had been waiting for me. In that moment, I made my decision. "Ok, I'll take it with me. If you're sure it's ok?"

She nodded and smiled like I told her Christmas had come early. "It's ok, I promise. Oh here, let me get you the gear you'll be needing."... And that's how I found myself with a bag of baby Pokémon supplies and a Pokémon egg strapped to my stomach in a safety harness.

Heading back to the classroom to help Phoenix I muttered to the egg "You are gonna realize baby, that I keep getting into these situations because I'm soft in the head. Also, I apologize in advance for Nix. She is um... well… She's Nix. Don't worry though, I think she'll like you once you hatch and -Oh my gosh, Nix! What the hell did you do?!"

I had walked into the classroom to find the two other teachers passed out on the floor in a heap. The children were all unconscious and tucked into their sleeping mats. They were also duct taped to said sleeping mats. Several Pokémon were also duck taped to tables and chairs and the Ekans was even taped to the wall. And there was Nix, in the middle of the classroom, humming happily in her Ditto form while pulling out of the bag a roll of duct tape. Or another roll, if the state of the children was any indication. I swear she was humming the chorus of the 'The Cell Block Tango' from the Chicago musical.

At the sound of my enraged voice, she froze, turned to me, and grinned. "Hi, Tori. Oh wow, is that a poke egg? Cool colors. You look like you're pregnant with it in that sling, by the way. Oh, did you have any luck finding my minion?" She smiled at me with a happy tone to her voice as she said this, completely, totally, and utterly enjoying herself.

"Nix, why and how did you do all this?" I said amazement and annoyance coming through my tone.

She looked around the room and said "Well, the kids wouldn't sleep and the Pokémon were all running around so I turned into a Jigglypuff and used sing to put them to sleep. It put the teachers to sleep too, so I figured I'd see if the bag was hiding some duct tape cause let's face it, you always need duct tape. It's one of life's necessities. So it was in there and I duck taped them where they fell to make it easier."

She looked around the room again with a proud gleam in her pink eyes, admiring her own handy work it seemed. I sighed, exasperated, then I noticed something odd about the Ekans. I went closer and said confused "Nix? What is that wiggling lump inside the Ekans?" I dreaded what her answer would be.

Nix looked up a said casually "Oh, that. The Ekans tried to eat the Rattata. I didn't think that was a good idea, so I stopped him and taped him in place so that he couldn't swallow the Rattata."

I think my brain overloaded and failed to process what she said for a good minute, during which, she added more duct tape to hold down the sleeping Teddiursa. Then my brain caught up with what was said and what had happened.

"What! Why didn't you make him spit him out, Nix?!" I shouted as I rushed to find scissors, then quickly but carefully used the scissors and cut the Ekans down. As I did so, I said to Nix "You, my dear friend, are not allowed to be alone ever again with the backpack. Now get over here and help me make this Ekans throw up."

They say that truth is stranger than fiction and this was just one more example of how accurate that statement was.


	25. Chapter 24: November 17th 20XX

IMPORTANT A/N: Ok, my beloved readers, I need to steal your attention for as long as it takes you to read all of this note. First, I would like to let you know that there is now a poll on my profile page that relates to this story and we would appreciate it if you would participate in it. Secondly, I am sorry to say that we're going to have to move the updates to once every two weeks for a while. There's a lot going on in both my coauthor and my own lives right now. This story is NOT being abandoned! We just need a bit more time to work on chapters right now because of everything else that's happening. Thank you all for your understanding. As always, we own nothing but our OCs and anyone/thing you don't recognize, so please don't sue us.

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Nov 17th 20XX

It took a while, but with Phoenix's help, I got the Rattata out of the Ekans throat with no physical damage to the mouse or to the snake. Psychological damage on the other hand, well, that was another story entirely. I looked at the Rattata, noticing that while it was breathing, it seemed like it was just a tiny, wee bit catatonic. I waved my hand in front of it and said "Great; it's basically a vegetable. Nix, how are we gonna explain this? Seriously, any ideas?"

Phoenix, being the oh so empathetic person that she was, poked the Rattata and replied, "Come on, Tori, it's fine. No one will notice the difference. Give it a few hours and I bet this little guy will be just fine."

She poked him again, her ditto arm wiggling slightly due to its gelatinous consistency, causing the mouse to tip over like a toy or a dead body in the throws of rigor mortis; its little legs and tail strait up in the air. I face palmed and replied dryly, "Sure, Nix. No one will notice. Now, come on. We need to free all of these Pokémon and toddlers before they wake up as well as hide the duct tape and any other evidence."

"But Tori, I just finished getting them all tapped up." Phoenix pouted, a slight whine to her voice at the thought of all her hard work going to waste.

I stood up a bit awkwardly, largely due to the egg I was now carrying around in the sling and replied "Yes, you did. And that, my dear Phoenix, is why you are going to help me undo this mess that you created before the teachers wake up."

I was worried what the reaction would be if someone came in and saw all these of babies, who were supposed to be in our care, duct tapped to various surfaces. Thankfully, no one came in and setting the munchkins free did not take long. Destroying the evidence was easy as well; I just had Phoenix hide it in the bag of holding to be disposed of later when we went back to Goldenrod for Professors Juniper and Oak's lecture. The teachers woke up before the kids and baby Pokémon did; looking confused and sleepy, but otherwise unaffected and totally normal. It looked like they wanted to ask what had happened, but just at that second, two kids woke up crying, successfully driving any other thoughts from their minds but quieting them down, with our help, so that they didn't wake any of the others.

Not to terribly long after that, everyone was waking up and looking for snack. Thankfully, after the controlled chaos of another meal with the children, Phoenix and I had a break; so we decided to beat a hasty retreat to take a walk outside by the river that ran parallel to the daycare. I sighed as we strolled along the path and couldn't help but enjoy the view. The tall grasses swayed in the breeze and the sun shone brightly, making the river sparkle and gleam like a ribbon of jewels. As we walked along, enjoying the peace and quiet, the egg bumped against my chest, reminding me it was there. Phoenix, who as usual was perched on my shoulder, was humming 'The Cell Block Tango' again. I touched the egg, feeling it grow warm and, maybe it was my imagination, but it seemed to wiggle.

"Oh, cool! Nix, I think I felt it move!" Phoenix looked down, curious, pausing her humming to give the egg and I her undivided attention. Well, about as undivided as anyone with ADHD could get. "Nix, are you ok with us taking care of this little egg? I know I didn't get a chance to ask you about it. Tom's granddaughter kinda ambushed me with it while we were cleaning up Sparky's mess. Then it was like, well, I got this weird feeling; like it wanted to come with me. I know, I should have asked you first, but I felt like it was meant to come with us. Like it was meant to happen. Does that sound weird?"

She touched the egg gently and said, "Hey! You're right, Tori! It did wiggle a bit. I wonder if that means what it did in the game, that it's getting ready to hatch… Nah."

She shook her head and turned her attention to the question I had asked her. "As for taking the egg Toriori, it's ok. Really, don't worry about it. You getting this egg was actually a good thing, seeing as we need more Pokémon on our team anyway. Sparky, while he does occasionally have his uses, is untried in battle and we have no idea what his stats are, what moves he knows, or how well he can use any of those said moves. Hell, for all we know he's a world-class klutz while fighting. His klepto skills still need some work before he makes up for all the trouble he causes, but with the proper training and, more importantly, incentive, I think he'll become a great asset. As to the statement about us meaning to have the egg sounding weird? Nope. My friend it most certainly does not sound weird. Let us review and take into consideration the following facts. First, I, your friend and mutually proclaimed twin sister, am now a Pokémon. A legendary, granted, but a Pokémon nonetheless whereas a few days ago, I was a very epic, if slightly psychotic and mentally unstable, human. Second, we got sucked into a video game. Although oddly enough, the world of the game, not the exact one we were playing. Third, your biological clock seems to have glitched and gotten stuck on rewind for the equivalent of approximately twelve years worth of de-aging. I think it would be safe to say at this point that my idea of what is and is not weird is in a state of some undestandably and much needed adjustment."

I chucked amused at her commentary and replied "Yeah, I think we are both going to have to adjust what we see as weird considering our current state."

Our conversation was interrupted by an obnoxious shout. "Hey, babe! You there, with the Pokémon. You're a trainer right?"

I paused and looked across the road for the source of the voice. There was a guy riding towards us on a bike and I got a better look at him as he got closer. He had bronzed skin and brown dreadlocks pulled back into a pony tail. He was dressed in a bright yellow tank top with green shorts a helmet on his head, a backpack dangling from his shoulder and sunglasses covering his eyes. Even from a distance, it looked like he was super muscular. As in built illegally with massive amounts of steroids muscular.

I turned to face him as he pulled over in front of us and said "My name isn't babe. it's Astoria. But, yes, I'm a Pokémon trainer. This is my partner, as you can see she is a Ditto and her name is Nix."

He smiled and replied "Well, sweet cheeks, my name is Manny. I was riding along, working out these sweet muscles of mine and saw you. Thought to myself, I got this beautiful body working out then I should do the same for awesome Pokémon and give them a workout too. So what do you say lil lady? Wanna battle an impressive and handsome stud like me? I promise I'll go easy on a cute chick like you."

I had already lost my polite smile and, by the time the nicknames of sweet cheeks, lil lady and chick came out, I was outright frowning. I so did not like this muscle bound meathead. I so wanted to give him a piece of my mind, but a battle might show him even better. To Phoenix, I whispered quietly and quickly "You up for your first battle, Nix? I know we didn't plan it, but seriously, this guy is such a pain I wanna teach him a lesson."

Phoenix replied with a low growl, her left eye twitching, "Screw the damn Pokémon battle! Just give me five minutes alone with him and I swear to all that's holy, he'll never look at a female of any species the same way again. He's an annoying asshole and thus deserves to suffer. Preferably at my hand."

I smiled and said "But this is a good chance for us to improve our battling skills as well as teach this jerk a lesson."

Nix chuckled evilly as her eye twitch slowed to a stop and replied "Ok, Tori. Since maiming, mauling, mutilation and death have been taken off the table, let's teach this jackass a lesson he won't soon forget. Oh! And don't forget the money!"

I nodded and turned to the lughead. "Ok Manny, we will battle you. How about a one on one Pokémon battle; prize to the winner will be 500 poke dollars?"

Manny nodded and got off of his bike, leaning it against a tree as he said "Sounds good to me, darling. Choose your Pokémon, lil missy."

I smiled and said "Nix of course, she is my partner."

I set Phoenix down on the ground in front of me. I scanned the terrain while Manny pulled out one of his pokeballs. Seeing as we were near the water and a lot of soft, wet dirt, it would make this a bad area for Phoenix if she transformed into a fire type; although it would be extra helpful if she changed to a water or grass type. I filed my mental notes about the terrain away for later, should we end up needing to use the area to our advantage.

Manny smiled at me in a condescending way and threw his pokeball in Phoenix's direction. "Ok, Machop, let's do this. Get us another victory!"

The Machop came out and started flexing and showing off his muscles in a way that matched the personality of his trainer to a T. He took one look at Phoenix and foolishly started laughing. I smiled in what could be considered my own evil, Phoenix style as I saw Phoenix's shoulder twitch at the Machops laughter. I knew the perfect Pokémon that could counter Manny's macho Machop.

"Nix, change to an Abra, if you please." I said ignoring the Machop's laughing.

Phoenix nodded, the twitch in her shoulder stopped and I rightly assumed that her left eye was twitching again in a slightly deranged manner. I watched as her shape blurred and she changed to an Abra. Seeing as her eyes were closed, I couldn't tell if her pink eye coloration had transferred over into this form as well.

I grinned and said "Nix, you're looking awesome! Ok now let's start this fight!" I glanced at the pokedex to remind myself of Abra's moves and grinned even wider at the attacks I saw. "Alright, Nix! Quick, use teleport! Get behind that Machop!"

Phoenix nodded her little Abra head and she blurred, then disappeared entirely right before my eyes. It was so cool seeing her disappear like that, then watching her popping back into existence behind the Machop. Manny tried to alert his Machop with a shout "Behind you, Machop!"

I saw confusion on the Machops face as he started to turn and I shouted to Phoenix "Ok! Now use telekinesis, Nix!"

Her body started to glow with a light blue aura and I could see streaks of the light coming off her to swirl around the Machop. The light latched onto him covering him in the blue light as well. Then Phoenix used her powers to fling the Machop into the air and slam him down into the ground. The poor Machop cried out in pain making me feel a little bad for it, after all, it wasn't the Machop's fault his trainer was a dumb jerk standing there slack jawed like an idiot; not knowing how to beat me or Phoenix.

Phoenix didn't have to use the move again as the Machop went limp and I could see its eyes close as it lost consciousness. I was surprised by this, I mean I knew Phoenix was a legendary and therefore would be more powerful than an average Pokémon, but this was a little ridiculous. Pointing the pokedex at the Machop, I was not surprised to see that it was only level 15 while Phoenix was, according to the pokedex, level 25.

Seeing the maniacal grin on her face, I quickly called out to her to keep her from continuing to injure the unconscious Machop."Done, Nix. Enough, we win."

Nix stopped what would have been her next attack with a small frown and let the poor Machop drop.

"It's ok Machop, you tried. Time for you to return and rest. We'll get them next time." Manny held out his pokeball and Machop returned. He glared at me and started to walk back to his bike, saying "Fine, you and your stupid ditto win! I'd better get my Machop to the Pokémon center."

I threw up my hand and shouted indignantly "Hey! Wait a minute!"

Manny stopped walking and looked back at Phoenix and me. "We won. That means you have to pay up, Manny baby." I said sweetly with a light drawl, mocking him a little.

"Screw it! You must have cheated somehow! There's no way a tiny Pokémon like that could have beaten my awesome Machop without cheating!" He looked seriously angry and continued shouting, "No way am I giving any poke dollars to you cheaters!"

He turned to go once more, but was frozen in his tracks by an enraged Phoenix, courtesy of her telekinesis move. "You dared to call us cheaters. You refused to pay what you owe us for a rightful victory. Those things, perhaps, I could forgive. But not only did you call me tiny, you insulted Astoria. You are so far down on my shit list Manny boy, that you're beyond saving."

A nearby rock and large branch floated into view, I knew Phoenix was controlling them with her Abra forms psychic abilities. She then proceeded to bludgeon Manny with the rock and large stick, cackling with malicious glee as she did so. Manny eventually cried uncle and finally gave up his wallet right before he fell over in what was probably a fair amount of pain. Phoenix took the money he owed us and changed back to her Ditto form.

She asked to see the bag for a minute and I said ok, admittedly a bit confused as to why she wanted it, but curious to say the least. Out of the bag she pulled, to my surprise, a camera and a red flag. To me she said, "When I tell you to, snap a picture if you would be so kind, Astoria, my dear." She said happily handing me the camera.

Still confused, but amused nonetheless, I nodded as she went over to Manny, climbed up his badly bruised body and planted the flag on him like she was a successful mountain climber making a claim. "Now, Tori, take the picture if you please."

I did still curious as to where this was going and Phoenix, seeing my confused expression, grinned. "Ok. Now tell our friend Manny that if he tells anyone what happened here, especially Officer Jenny, we will post this picture on the interwebs and title it 'Macho jerk Manny beat up by small but mighty and epic female Pokémon'." Phoenix laughed a little evilly at her own statement. Clearly, she amused herself, but this was nothing that I was unaware of or new.

I couldn't help but laugh with her. It was such an elegant, but hilarious solution to the Manny problem. I told Manny what Phoenix had said and the groan he made in reply I took to be compliance. We took off after that. Phoenix, back on my shoulder looked at the photo as we walked along, her face slowly contorting with the malicious glee that I knew so well. "Hmm… Hey, Tori? What would you say to my idea of taking up scrap-booking? It suddenly seems like a very appealing hobby."

I chucked and replied "I think that all the jerks in Poke Earth should be very, very afraid of you."

And so Phoenix and I spent the rest of our break talking about the battle and her new hobby before heading back to the daycare.

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Ok, I know that this is another A/N and you're probably tired of hearing from us this chapter, but this needed to be said as well. As I'm sure you've noticed, it isn't Saturday and we're still updating the story. By know, I'm sure you've realized that that means that I will not be around to post on Saturday so am posting early instead.

Also, we would like to thank Mew'smeow and our anonymous reviewer for reviewing. Reviews make our day!

Ans thanks as well to all others who have favorited, followed, or just simply read our story. If you've read this far, we're glad that you seem to enjoy reading this as much as we enjoy writing it!


	26. Chapter 25: November 18th 20XX

Nov 18 20XX

Phoenix and I headed back to the Pokémon daycare where most of the baby Pokémon and humans were being picked up by their trainers and parents. I was relieved to see the Ratatta from before walking around, although it did seem to twitch every now and then which made me wonder if Pokémon could suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder. I hurried back into the house part of the daycare to give Tom's granddaughters a hand with dinner while sneakily avoiding the Ratatta and its trainer. When we got to the kitchen, I breathed a sigh of relief, feeling like we had dodged a bullet.

Dinner that night was a tempura and a stir fried meat dish. Tom's wife was looking after him so Mae and Sally were cooking dinner with Phoenix and my help. The granddaughters were chopping up meat while Phoenix and I did the vegetables. She was cackling happily as she worked, seeing as she had turned into a Scyther and was using its bladed hands to chop up the vegetables. Phoenix had always loved sharp and pointy things, so having two attached to her arms was making her downright giddy as was made obvious by her commentary while cutting. Between the psychotic chortles of course.

"Call me short will you! I'll show you! Take that! Death and dismemberment to the color pink! And all who dare oppose me! The death-death be upon you! Die, damn you, die!"

I chuckled to see her in such a good mood and having so much fun. I tossed my last bowl of potatoes into the pot where all the cleaned and chopped veggies were. I felt a wiggle against my stomach again and looked down at the egg I was still carrying in the sling against my stomach. This was the second time it had wiggled in a few hours, which made me wonder how soon it would be before it hatched. One of the granddaughters saw me looking at it and smiled saying "Thank you so much for taking that egg. Are you doing ok carrying it around?"

I nodded and replied "Oh, yes. It's just a bit awkward since I don't want to risk breaking it. I'm a little paranoid about where I'm walking or what I'm doing."

Phoenix chucked, overhearing me talking to the girl and added "Paranoid? Oh that was a massive understatement, Tori, but then again you seem to have a knack for that. You were walking in such a zigzag on the way back here to avoid rocks, puddles and minute imperfections in the road that I felt like I was on an amusement park ride."

She smirked at me and then turned her full attention back to chopping veggies with malicious glee. It was times like this I was really glad nobody understood Phoenix but me. Toms other granddaughter saw Phoenix enthusiastically chopping and said nervously "Oh my, your Ditto does love to chop things doesn't she?"

I think the bladed arms were making her nervous and you would have to be pretty dumb not to notice how much Phoenix was enjoying herself. However, my wonderfully homicidal friend had been making people nervous for many a year, but to me that just made her even awesome. Though to keep her from asking any questions about our background, and thus outing our strange origins, I quickly replied "Yeah, Nix and I have known each other and trained for years before starting our journey. So she might be more skilled than your average beginner Pokémon."

Something started to boil over, thankfully interrupting our conversation. What with prepping dinner and getting it on the table, we didn't have time to pick our conversation up again. I was glad to see Tom at the dinner table looking much better; it seems that the doctor had come and pronounced Tom to just have a badly sprained ankle, much to all of our relief. He was grateful for our help that day and said not to worry about tomorrow; he had called some friends of his to help out at the daycare until next week when his ankle was better.

I was glad Tom was ok, but admittedly much happier not to work the next day. It was the day of Professor Oak and Junipers lecture and I was quite looking forward to it. I told Tom and his family what Phoenix and my plans were for tomorrow and he smiled and said he hoped we had a good time. Before I knew it, dinner was over and Phoenix and I were heading up to bed.

As we headed up the stairs I overheard Jill talking to Tom, "Another day over at the daycare, dear; I hope it's not nearly so exciting tomorrow though. It was so nice of Astoria and Nix to help us out like that. There was one strange thing about that little Ratatta, though. Its trainer called us a while ago complaining that his Pokémon was acting odd. Something about it running away absolutely terrified of the trainer's garden hose. Very strange indeed."

I made my escape with Phoenix, who once again being her compassionate self, was trying not to fall off my shoulder laughing.

"Not funny, Nix." I said softly heading into our room upstairs.

Chuckling she replied "Nope, you're absolutely right, Tori. It's not funny, it's flippin' hilarious."

She then did fall off my shoulder laughing, landing on the soft bed as she changed her shape back to her Mew form. I signed, resigned, and didn't try and argue the point of it being funny any further as I knew it would be an exercise in futility. I smiled though and said as I changed into pjs, getting ready for bed. "This doubly proves the point that you are not allowed to be alone with the bag anymore."

Sparky was still on time out in his pokeball for misbehavior and so would be spending the night sleeping in said pokeball.

Nix pouted and said "Awww… Tori, you always spoil my fun."

I chucked and countered "No, I let you get away with too much as it is. I'm probably spoiling you rotten."

She laughed and replied, "I'm not spoiled because you let me get away with too much. After all, if you can't stop me then you're not letting me get away with it, are you?"

I opened my mouth to retort when I realized that she had a point. Snapping my jaw shut, I took the egg out of its sling and tucked it between two pillows for safety and to make sure it wouldn't roll off the bed and smash on the floor while we were sleeping. "Night little egg, maybe tomorrow you'll hatch and we can find out what you are."

Phoenix chucked and teased, "Aww,Tori, you're going to be such a good poké mommy."

Her playful speech was interrupted by me chucking a pillow at her, which she dodged easily. "Go to sleep, Nix. We have a long day tomorrow in the city."

She picked up the pillow I had thrown and laughed, snuggling in next to me and the egg. "Goodnight, Toriori."

I smiled and pulled the journal out of the back pack for a quick update before bed. "Goodnight, Phoenix."

The next morning, after a shower, change of clothes and inhaling a quick breakfast with Tom and his family, Phoenix and I were out the door, heading for a hotel in the central part of Goldenrod where the lecture was taking place. The sun was shining and the temperature was warm, but with a cool breeze coming off the river, it felt like a perfect day. I smiled at Phoenix, who as usual was perched on my shoulder in her Ditto form, and said "I've got a feeling that today will be a good day."

Phoenix smiled back and replied "Okie dokie, if you say so, Tori."

I adjusted the sling on my stomach containing the little Pokémon egg seeing as me walking had made it move into an awkward, not to mention uncomfortable, position. We made our way down the road, following our map as well as directions courtesy of a few helpful pedestrians and we got to the hotel more than an hour before the time that the lecture was due to start. In front of the hotel was a nice park like area with benches and a bubbling fountain big enough for Phoenix to swim laps in if she was so inclined. Which she was, but a shake of my head informed her that that was not something she could get away with, so she retained her position upon my shoulder, albeit a bit disappointed. On the top of the fountain, a very decorative Gyarados spit water into the air and I briefly wondered if we would end up meeting one in person during our travels.

After checking the time on my xtransceiver, I said out loud "Hmm. We have at least an hour to kill. Do you want to look around for a bit...?"

Shaking her head in the negative, Phoenix was about to say something, but her attention was diverted from its original thought process when something shiny caught her attention. Tugging gently on my shoulder she pointed to my left and said "Look over there, Tori. Does that look as good to you right now as it does to me?"

I glanced in the direction she was pointing to see a picture of a giant ice cream cone done in bright, cheerful colors, beneath it was a booth with a sign proclaiming it to be the famous Casteliacone, known all over Poké Earth.

I smiled looking back up at her "An ice cream cone? You're right, that does sound good. Besides, we have time to kill and we did just win that money yesterday. Let's go get one."

As we got closer, I saw a smaller sign at the booth promoting a special event. 'Come one and all trainers! Get a free Casteliacone when you show us your rare Pokémon!' As we came up to the booth I saw two attendants manning it. One was a woman with red hair and the other was a man with hair that was a blue purple color. Odd back home, perhaps, but here in Poké Earth, technicolor hair seemed to be the norm which was going to take some getting used to. Both of them were wearing dark sun glasses to shield them from the bright morning sun, although the glasses were so big it was hard to make out their facial features. I frowned because they looked familiar to me, but at the same time I knew they shouldn't because I didn't know anyone in Poké Earth aside from the few we had already met.

They were talking excitedly to the trainer in front of them and I could overhear the conversation as I got closer. "Oh my, what a lovely Pokémon! That Clefable definitely counts as a rare Pokémon. So, here is your free Casteliacone and as an extra treat, a nice sparkly sticker for your Pokémon."

The trainer smiled and replied with a thank you before putting the sticker on his Clefable and carrying the ice cream they walked off together. Curious I walked up to them and caught a glimpse of the stickers. They were shiny silver circle shapes with a giant pink gem in the middle. The crystal also had the image of the booths logo in the center of the stone. I knew Phoenix would hate it right off the bat due to its pink color, shininess be damned. They looked odd though, like they were too thick to be stickers.

I shrugged and looked up to the ice cream sellers who had just gotten done with another customer. The woman then addressed me in an extremely cheerful manner that was a bit unnerving, "Hello there, trainer! Welcome to our humble little stand! Do you have a rare Pokémon? We have a special event, today only!"

The blue haired man chimed in cheerfully "That's right! One day only, show us your rare Pokémon and get free ice cream!"

Yikes. They came on a bit strong, didn't they? I smiled politely though and nodded "Um, yes. I saw the sign. Well, I really only have two Pokémon and my egg right now, does my Ditto Nix here count?" I asked, pointing to Phoenix on my shoulder.

The red headed woman nodded excited "Oh, a Ditto! Yes, that definitely counts! How wonderful!"

I asked for a frozen pudding flavor for Phonix, because I knew it was one of her favorites and got myself a chocolate one. After serving us, the blue haired ice cream man handed me one of the stickers and said "And this is for your cute, little Ditto. An extra treat for our special promotion!"

Phoenix looked at the sticker in disdain, as I figured she would and said "Tori, I'm pink enough as it is. I don't want anything to do with that thing. Tell him, thanks, but no thanks."

I did not say anything to Phoenix in return, but I turned to the seller and shook my head. "Thank you for the kind offer, but I don't think my Pokémon would like that much."

An irritated look came over the ice cream lady's face as she said in a sickeningly sweet tone "Oh, but you must take one and put it on your Pokémon. We insist!"

I frowned, not liking her aggressive pushing of the stupid sticker. "No, really. Thank you, but we don't want it." I said polite, but firm.

The female tried to reach over the counter and put it on Phoenix, ignoring my protests and I pulled back which turned out to be a smart move, seeing as Phoenix had bitten at her hand for getting to close. The sellers looked a bit taken aback, not only at Phoenix's reaction, but because I'm pretty sure that Dittos don't normally have fangs. Phoenix frowned at them and said with a growl, "My bubble."

I was really getting annoyed and worried that if they actually managed to touch Phoenix that she would flip out and make a scene. Not to mention kick the crap out of them. I did not want us coming to the attention of all the trainers and Pokémon professors walking around outside. I heard the male salesmen say to his coworker "Jessie, we don't really need that little Ditto, do we? It's smaller than it should be."

The women snarled and turned to the man and shouted "Be quiet, you imbecile! The boss will give us an advance for a Ditto, I'm sure of it! Its smaller size simply makes it more unusual!"

I backed up, dropping the ice cream as worry shot through me. I suddenly recognized who they were and thought myself an idiot for not seeing sooner. "Oh my God, you're Jessie and James of Team Rocket!" I exclaimed, louder than I had meant to.

Behind me a voice said, "Well gang, I guess I cat's out of the bag."

I turned sharply and saw it was none other than Meowth behind me, blocking Phoenix and I from running like I meant to.

Phoenix did the Ditto equivalent of an eyebrow raise, "Seriously? You think that's going to stop us?"

Meowth frowned and unsheathed his claws, "Of course it will."

Climbing down my body before I could stop her, Phoenix clambered down my body like it was a ladder and stood in front of Meowth, who was a good half foot taller than her, making it even more pronounced that she was about a fourth the size she was supposed to be. She locked her eyes with his in an intense stare down. Well, it was a stare down until Phoenix kicked the feline in the genitals, causing him to curl up in extreme pain before she quickly climbed back up my body. "And that, Astoria my dear, is how you deal with something a fifth of your size trying to block your escape route."

Turning her attention back in Team Rocket's direction, she asked, "Why do you people actually think that that strategy will work? Seriously, what the hell?"

Not waiting for a reply and noticing that I hadn't moved, she looked at me and simply asked, "Why haven't you started running away from them yet?"

Her words spurred me into action and I took off, Phoenix on my shoulder cheerfully giving Team Rocket the one finger salute as we ran.


	27. Chapter 26: November 19th 20XX

Nov 19

I took Phoenix's advice, leaving behind the temporarily baffled Team Rocket and a groaning and painfully moaning Meowth. I ran fast as I could using my younger bodies stamina and long legs to race full tilt down the city's streets. I could hear shouting behind us and I knew Team Rocket wasn't far behind. I turned a random corner trying, and failing, to lose them. Phoenix clung to my shoulder cursing "Of all the damn people we had to meet on Poké Earth why the hell did we have to meet freakin' Team Rocket!? Ok, I admit it! I always thought James was kinda easy on the eyes, not to mention reminds me of a puppy, but I did not want him and that psychotic, no wait that's an insult to my fellow psychotics, that banshee Jessie chasing us through Goldenrod. When it comes to men, I like them pretty and tied up! Or tying me up, I'm fair like that."

I chucked and managed to resist the urge to facepalm, despite the bad situation and panting. I huffed "Down girl!... oogle… pretty bad boys... when they are not... chasing us... with... bad intentions."

I turned another random corner hoping, probably in vain, that maybe I would run into Officer Jenny and she would save us. But it really was turning into a bad day seeing as the next corner I turned led Phoenix and I down a dead end alleyway.

"Oh shit." Phoenix commented, "You know Tori, the next time you claim that it's going to be a good day, I'm hitting you. Just so you know."

The alley was a dirty and tiny area with high walls on both sides and a cinderblock one on the other end. I glanced up briefly entertaining a notion of climbing up and escaping. But the barbed wire at the top of the walls and the fear of injuring Phoenix, the poke egg and/or myself stopped me in my tracks and the idea was quickly discarded.

"Well Jessie, James looks like this is a dead end for the twerpette and her freaky little Ditto. Now hand over the Pokémon. And you're gonna hand over that egg too, just for your Ditto kicking me like she did."

"Little?!" Phoenix snarled, "I'll show you little you-."

I had to put a placating hand on Phoenix as she made a move to attack the feline for his commenting on her height. Really, this was becoming something of a habit for her.

I turned, my stomach feeling as if it had become lead at the idea of facing off against the three of them plus any Pokémon that they might have with them. They stood there, Jessie on the left, James on the right, and Meowth standing between them in the middle with his claws out. James and Jessie were holding a pokeball each grinning at us like they were sure of beating us already. Somewhere along the run they had ditched the disguises and were wearing the classic white Team Rocket outfits. Phoenix being herself said "Wow, Tori. We got elevated to 'twerp' status right off the bat. I must have really pissed off, Meowth."

I smiled and, not taking my eyes off our opponents, replied softly "You do like to look on the bright side of things don't you, Nix?"

I could hear the grin in her voice as she replied "I don't suppose you think 'Yay! We're doomed!' Would be a good response, no matter how appropriate it might be at the moment?"

That made me chuckle as I backed away from Team Rocket. "No, it is not particularly good response, but it is very apropos and very you."

Despite my soft tone I could see Meowth's ears flicking back and forth as he looked at Phoenix and I. He had a confused but calculating look on his face and I was filled with new dread as I worried he was figuring out that Phoenix and I understood each other. I was surprised that I could read his facial expressions as easily as if he were a human.

His contemplation was interrupted though when Jessie announced "You know, I'm feeling nostalgic. What do you say to us reciting the old motto?"

James looked at her curiously and said "Really Jessie? It's been so long, are you sure we still can?"

She nodded and there was an eager gleam in her eye "Yes! There is something in the air... Maybe chasing this twerp brought it out. We haven't fought any twerps in a long time. Let's do it, then steal all her Pokémon and go forward with our original plan."

James grinned at her and said "Ok Jessie, I'm with you!"

Phoenix looked at them in shock, "Are they really going to start monologing?"

She gave him a thumbs up and said "To protect the world from devastation!"

James chimed in "To unite all peoples within our nation!"

My currently gelatinous friend thunked her head on my shoulder, "They're monologing."

She struck a pose her one arm pointing up dramatically the other out behind her. James mirrored her moments to make a triangle with their fingers touching and the red haired woman said. "To denounce the evils of truth and love."

James grinned and added "To extend our reach to the skies above."

"You know," Phoenix prompted, "While they're monologing, we should either get Sparky out here or do something violent to them. I vote for the latter, personally."

The two were really getting into it and it had them distracted for the time being. Nodding my silent agreement with Phoenix, I pulled out the pokeball that had Sparky in it while they were finishing up the motto. I was also trying to think of the strongest Pokémon Phoenix could turn into and still fit in this tiny alleyway. It all depended on which Pokémon Team Rocket sent out.

"Jessie."

"James."

"I think my brain just glitched." Phoenix stated casually, much like she was commenting on the weather to use an extremely overused cliché.

"Team rocket blast off at the speed of light."

"Surrender now or prepare to fight."

"Seriously? How have they not noticed we're plotting while they're babbling?" Phoenix did love her commentary.

And there was Meowth jumping up in the middle shouting "Meowth that's right!"

I used their distraction to release Sparky speaking quickly to the orb in my hand, "Sparky, we really need your help here."

The night after Phoenix's first battle, I had reviewed Sparky's information via the pokedex to see what his level was and what attacks he knew. Sparky was just about level 13, so he knew thundershock, quick attack, thunder wave, tail whip and growl. Not the best attacks, but considering we were a little desperate I wasn't one to quibble. Sparky came out of his pokeball in a burst of the familiar red light and looked at me at me then at Team Rocket. For a split second I was afraid he was going to tackle Jessie like he had all other females to date, but he made a face like he saw something disgusting and I couldn't help but snort in laughter and comment "Oh my God! Sparky, you think Jessie is ugly?!"

Phoenix decided to be helpful by laughing hysterically and saying "Sparky, my little kleptochu, you have just earned yourself some major brownie points."

As this was going on, an extremely pissed off Jessie, who had clearly heard my comment, screeched indignantly "Did that little witch just say what I think she did?! James! We are going to make that girl pay for besmirching my beauty! Come out Swoobat! This girl has to be taught a lesson! Use shadow ball attack!"

I didn't even have time to tell Phoenix what to change into before Swoobat came out launching the ghost type attack at me. I managed to duck out of the way shouting "Sparky! Hit that ball with thundershock!" Sparky, obeying me, launched his lighting and intercepted the shadow ball midair. The resulting explosion shoved me and Phoenix back and I instinctively curled up around her and the egg to protect them as we were slammed into a wall. The falling dust and debris blinded me, but even though the explosion had me stunned, I heard James call out "All right, come out Yamask and Carnivine, let's make this a really unfair fight like we do best! Yamask use your own shadow ball, Carnivine use vine whip!"

I knew we were in quite a bit of trouble, but I coughed out "Nix... Charmander... Ember!"

I blinked my already watery eyes as Phoenix was lit up then suddenly a Houndoom was throwing a fire attack with serious ferocity. I was confused for a moment before realizing that Phoenix had pointedly ignored me and turned into one of her other favorites who, conveniently enough, was even more effective in this situation than the Charmander that I had asked for. I couldn't help but briefly think to myself that Phoenix was amazing to think so quickly in such a bad situation, and that I was immensely glad we were together right at that moment. Having a friend who was a Pokémon that could transform and knew Pokémon just as well as I did might just save our skins.

The ember attack hit both the vine whip and ended up hitting the shadow ball too. I didn't know if we would get so lucky with the next hit though. I was already feeling bruised from being tossed back by the explosion, so I was very glad to be against the wall and not standing at that moment. Phoenix and Sparky stood protectively in front of me.

Phoenix gave them a glare that chilled me, another reminder of her mental instability I suppose, and snarled at them in the most menacing tone I had ever heard, "If you bastards hurt Tori any more, I'll kill you. If you somehow manage to escape me, know that I will spend the rest of my life hunting you down. I will become the nightmare that jerks you awake in abject horror in the dark; and one of those nights, I'll be there to end your miserable existence."

Not understanding her words but understanding she was mad, Jessie laughed wryly and said "Oh look James, Meowth, I think we made the twerps Ditto mad."

Meowth laughed back, albeit in a slightly disturbed manner as he had clearly understood Phoenix's threat, and replied "Ya know, I think your right Jessie, I believe we did. Ok, this is the deal twerpette, just give up or we're gonna beat you's up some more. You're outnumbered and you're not gonna win."

A voice behind the cat Pokémon interrupted him with a shout "No, she's not outnumbered you crooks, cause now I'm here!"

I looked up and was shocked to see a man standing behind the Rocket trio and their Pokémon. It was a man I knew very well from all my years of watching the Pokémon show; it was Brock standing there with pokeballs in hand, his Chansey and Croagunk standing at his sides.

"Oh you have got to be kidding me! On top of Team Failure, now we have to deal with the equivalent of Sparky in human form?! Come on! Can't we catch a break?!" Phoenix snapped incredulously.

Meowth cursed, "Damn it! It's raining twerps today."

In the background I could hear Phoenix continue to rant, "Celebi! Do you hear me, you bitch?! I blame you!"


	28. Chapter 27: November 20th 20XX

November 20th 20XX

I sat there in shock and awe as I saw none other than Brock come to Phoenix's and my rescue. Phoenix was muttering more curses at Celebi when she launched another fire attack at the Carnivine. I was marveling at the fact Brock was there and directing his Pokémon Chansey and Croagunk to help us; it was amazing and surreal to see him there. Never in my wildest dreams had I ever thought to see Brock in person. He was dressed differently than I had seen him in the anime with a collared orange shirt and brown pants.

Before I could contemplate his wardrobe he was shouting out attacks to his Pokémon "Chansey use double slap on Swoobat, Croagunk use poison jab on Yamask!"

I rallied myself and got up, wanting to rejoin the fight and finish this. "Nix, use that fire attack again on Carnivine then use bite on Swoobat! Sparky use thundershock on Yamask!"

Phoenix's fire attack hit Carnivine and Croagunk's poison jab hit Yamask almost at the same time knocking out the two Pokémon. Next, Brock's Chansey slammed its double slap so hard into Swoobat I swear I felt the force of it from where I stood.

Phoenix used bite on the Swoobat and in a slightly insane voice which was muffled by having her mouth full of a flailing bat Pokémon said, "Om nom nom nom."

I face palmed, "Damn it, Nix! Would it kill you to take this seriously?"

Spitting out the now unconscious Pokémon and sitting back on her haunches, she wagged her tail happily and replied cheerfully, "I am taking this seriously. However taking things seriously and having fun are not mutually exclusive. Besides, you know it was funny."

I shook my head at her as I heard Jessie shriek "No fair now it's two on one! That's our job, you brats! We're the ones who are supposed to be cheating and dishing out the pain!"

James chimed in "Yes, we have our sneaky moves copyrighted! ...Well, patent pending." Then, looking at the unconscious Pokémon, he added "Jessie I think we better scram or we're done for."

As Jessie was calling back her Swoobat into its pokeball she yelled "No! This girl has to pay for insulting me; we must have some other Pokémon!"

James called back his Pokémon as well and replied "Not now, Jessie. We should go while we still can, otherwise the whole plan will be a flop."

Phoenix tilted her head to the left and commented blandly, "You know, it's so odd to watch him be the voice of reason. The anime always played him up as the stupid one."

As I nodded in agreement, the light of a Pokémon being released flashed out from Jessie's pocket. The light turned into Wobbuffet. It made a sort of croaking noise which sounded extremely enthusiastic.

"Why do you continue to plague me, you stupid Pokémon?! You're next to useless, go back in your pokeball!" Jessie snarled at the Pokémon before swiftly recalling it.

As Jessie sent Wobbuffet back into its ball, I thought to myself how when watching the anime all those years I always felt kinda bad for it having Jessie as a trainer when she was so damn abusive to it. If I were Wobbuffet, I would have run away a very long time ago. Now that was one loyal Pokémon. Phoenix, being very much in tune with me, commented "Gods, she is such a bitch. Why doesn't Wobbuffet just bail and find a new trainer? Or better yet, kick her ass and then go find a new trainer."

I shrugged and replied quietly "I'm not sure, Nix. There are many mysteries in this world; one of them seems to be why the hell would such a nice Wobbuffet would stay with a mean and nasty person like Jessie."

I must not have been quiet enough though, cause Jessie looked so enraged that she seemed to want to ditch the Pokémon battle and slug me herself. Damn my lousy loud voice, it always seemed to carry. I backed up defensively on pure instinct to save myself and the egg, but Phoenix, Sparky, Brock and his Pokémon jumped in between me and Jessie in a very protective manner. I needed to learn to keep my mouth shut, seriously. This was becoming something of a pattern.

Phoenix in her Houndoom form snarled at her and in a nasty tone told Jessie "Come on, just try it you witch. Please, give me a reason. Besides, I've always been curious if human flesh tastes more like pork or chicken."

I sighed. Yup, that was Phoenix for you. Disturbing the general public was her favorite pastime.

Brock, seeking to be a peace maker, said "It's over you three; I called Officer Jenny on my way here. She and the rest of the police will be here any second."

He was right, I could hear shouting voices and sirens getting louder as they got closer. Jessie, not understanding in her rage or maybe just not caring, still tried to lunge for me but James and Meowth grabbed her and dragged her back.

"The cops are coming, Jessie, we's got to go!" Meowth snapped as he continued to tug her away from me.

James agreed, picking Jessie up like a sack of potatoes rather than bothering to continue fighting with her. "Meowth is right, Jessie, it's time for us to blast off."

Jessie, still fighting her teammates, growled at me "You haven't seen the last of me, you horrid, little witch! I'll get you and your little Ditto too!"

As they dragged her off around the corner, Phoenix sighed and said "You know, suddenly I feel like I'm in a really bad remake of the Wizard of Oz. Are you ok, Tori?" She turned to me and nuzzled my shoulder with her muzzle a worried look in her eyes.

I hugged her tightly around her neck, careful of the egg strapped to my abdomen "I'm ok, Nix. Thank you for the quick thinking and turning into a Houndoom like that. You're awesome."

She smiled a toothy grin at me, revealing a mouthful of big and sharp looking canines "It's too bad Team Rocket ran off so fast, I really wanted to try out these teeth on a human, Jessie in particular. Psh, and they say _I'm_ psychotic."

I chuckled and was going to reply when someone clearing their throat behind Phoenix brought my attention back to Brock. "Thank you...sir... what's your name? You saved me and my Pokémon."

I had almost called him Brock to his face. In this world Brock was a real person and there was no way I should know who he was. Saying his name without a proper introduction could spoil Phoenix's and my cover. Brock, with a romantic look in his eyes, came up to me and took my hand "I, dear lady, am named Brock and I'm so delighted to have helped you today. In fact I think it was fate that brought us together. Your beauty shines like the sun and I think us going on a date together would be wonderful..." he went on about my beauty while I was trying to figure out how to get in a word in to interrupt him and make him stop.

Phoenix's paws seemed to sprout extremely sharp claws as she said "Dear gods, he's even more annoying in person. Just say the word Tori and I'll knock him into next year. Hell, if he doesn't back off I may just do that anyw-" before she could finish Croagunk slipped behind Brock and did his classic move of jabbing his back and bringing Brock down.

He started dragging Brock away and Brock squeaked out "I shall...return...my dear...shortly...not... to worry..."

Phoenix and I watched as Croagrunk dragged him off. Phoenix, her voice tinged with curiosity of the cat killing variety, pondered "Huh. I like that frog. Wonder where he is taking Brock?"

I shrugged and replied "Sometimes, I think it's better not to ask. Oh, we have company." Just then Officer Jenny and a group of her fellow police showed up on foot. When I told her what had happened, she sent some officers after Team Rocket while she took my statement. Phoenix took the chance to change back to her Ditto form. "So damn tiny, I really hate it. I should start staying in a more useful form longer. Preferably something not so pink with hands and opposable thumbs."

I could only smile at Phoenix to let her know I heard her and could not reply as I was talking to Officer Jenny. I knew she was there to help but officers in general made me nervous. As I looked at her I smiled to myself seeing her crisp blue uniform with its short skirt and little hat. I honestly wondered how that uniform was functional. Didn't she hurt herself chasing after bad guys in those heels?

Jenny started talking to me and I brought my attention back to the conversation at hand. "Now, Miss Astoria, you and your Ditto tried to protect yourself and that's admirable, but I'm worried for your safety. Those Team Rocket crooks are still on the loose so I would feel better assigning some officers to your protection temporarily."

I so did not want that and Phoenix started adding in her input "Hell to the no! We do not need officers following us all over, Tori. They'll notice something is wrong with us and besides, you never know if some of them are on Team Rocket's payroll."

I shook my head politely trying to change Officer Jenny's mind while thinking that my dear friends paranoia was showing again. "Officer, you're very nice to be concerned, but really it's not necessary."

Brock picked that moment to return "Officer Jenny, my sweet it's been too long! Please allow me to tell you how much your beauty makes even fair Goldenrod pale in comparison!"

The commotion attracted Sparky's attention and for the first time, he noticed Officer Jenny himself. With a chu of delight he tried to leap into her arms to get closer to her. Almost without warning there was Croagunk pulling a jab on Brock and Phoenix bludgeoning Sparky with the nearest blunt object, which this time seemed to be a handy loose brick, as she yelled at her minion. "And there go your brownie points, you dumbass! Bad Sparky! No groping!"

As Phoenix stood over a temporarily unconscious Sparky she looked over at Croagunk who was standing over a twitching Brock. She suddenly grinned and said "You know what? I like your style, Croagunk. We work well together, I think. Tori? I have a good feeling about that one."

I chuckled with a neutral reply "As you can see Officer Jenny, my Ditto is very fast and strong. We'll be fine I think, as long as we stay to public places."

Brock, recovering remarkably, fast sprung up and said "Well, if Astoria needs a body guard, I would be more than happy to be her escort. It would be my pleasure. I've had problems with Team Rocket before and my Pokémon and I can handle them along with Astoria's Pokémon just fine."

Clearly he had heard my name from my conversation with Officer Jenny. I shook my head again, trying to politely refuse "But I'm not even going home. Nix and I are going to Professors Oak and Junipers Pokémon lecture."

I showed them my tickets for emphasis. Brock had a gleam in his eye as he pulled out a piece of paper as well "It must really be fate we met, dear Astoria, as I happen to have a ticket from my friend Professor Oak. We should go together, it's starting soon."

I groaned, suddenly feeling very defeated and tired. If it was Brock or Officer Jenny, then Brock was the lesser of the two evils. He was a Pokémon breeder and doctor so maybe I could pick his brain for information about Pokémon. Also finding out anything about my egg would be nice. "Ok Brock, we can go to the lecture together I suppose."

Phoenix climbed nimbly up my leg then settled in her usual place near my shoulder. For a gelatinous blob, she climbed a lot like a monkey. "Astoria, my dear friend, I hope you know what you're doing."

I recalled Sparky back to his pokeball and muttered softly to her "Yeah, so do I."

Louder I said "Thank you so much for your worry, Officer Jenny, but I think Brock and I will be late if we stay much longer."

Officer Jenny sighed, closing her notepad "Alright, but please stay together you two. At least till we catch Team Rocket."

Phoenix snorted and muttered in my ear "Satan's gonna call in a snow day long before she catches them. No one in the show ever really did catch them or kept them long if they somehow managed to."

I agreed with her, but couldn't say so. After bidding my goodbye to Officer Jenny, I turned to Brock and smiled nicely at him, "If you would please lead the way, Brock? I got a little turned around getting here."

Brock smiled at me warmly. "My lady Astoria, it would be my pleasure."

"I swear, if he keeps this up for much longer, I'm going to hurt him. Badly. With whatever happens to be nearby." Phoenix said in a strained voice, I was willing to bet her eye was twitching too.

And so I ended up following Brock back to the convention center with Phoenix riding on my shoulder. As we turned the corner of the alleyway, Phoenix commented "As odd as this sounds, I still want some ice cream. What about you, Tori?"

I laughed out loud at her commentary, but replied, "I think I do too. We can go get some before the lecture."


	29. Chapter 28: November 21st 20XX

A/N: Ok, first off, we would like to thank everyone who has favorited, followed, reviewed, or even just read The Poké Storm Diaries. The reviews mean a lot to us and we're glad that people are enjoying our story. Not much else to say, but since I haven't done so in a while...

DISCLAIMER: We don't own Pokémon. We don't own any references you may, and probably will, see. Bottom line, if you recognize it, we don't own it. Astoria and Phoenix are property of their real life counterparts, so we can't even claim we own them; how sad is that? However, their real life counterparts love this story (as they better since this story started off as a request for them), so all is well.

* * *

November 21st 20XX

So, I think it's time for a bit of a recap. There I was, Phoenix back on my shoulder, the two of us walking beside Brock. After having put our Pokémon back in their pokeballs, we had made a swift exit out of the alley seeing as the lecture was starting in half an hour. We were making our way back to the lecture with Brock in the lead, which was desperately needed as my sense of direction was all messed up from my Team Rocket escape attempt.

I had a very surreal feeling, like it was all just a very odd dream. I knew it wasn't a dream, but considering events I was allowed some weird feelings I think. Brock, leading us around a corner smiled at me and said "So Astoria, how did you and your Pokémon end up coming to the conference here in Goldenrod?"

I smiled and answered "Well, Nix and I actually met Professor Oak the other day and he gave us tickets. Professor Juniper and Professor Rowan were there too." I pointedly did not mention that Phoenix had pied Rowan at said first meeting. It made me cringe just thinking about it; especially the part where Phoenix pied then mauled Professor Rowan. Yes, the pieing was embarrassing enough to be mentioned twice. "Juniper also gave me my first pokedex xtransiever. See?"

I held up my wrist showing him. "Wow, so if you just met the professors and got your pokedex does that mean you're a new trainer just starting your journey?"

Phoenix, adding in her commentary, said "Is he basically saying we scream 'noob'? Damn, no wonder we got jumped. If that's the case, we were practically Team Rocket bait. I blame Celebi. Then again, James was honestly not too bad looking. If not for that harpy Jessie I might have stopped by to say hello at the absolute minimum. Oh, tori? Please remind me to check the bag for some rope a bit later on. There are some other things I want to see if the bag is willing to provide and the rope, which I also want, will be a good prompt."

I had to ignore Phoenix ,but patted her on her head to let her know I was hearing her. Phoenix plus James and some rope, not to mention whatever else was crossing her mind, would make an interesting problem I had no doubt and I planned to discuss it with her at a later time.

Replying to Brock, I said "Yes, it's my first journey. But Nix and I have been um... training together a lot longer." _Not a total lie._ I thought to myself.

He grinned and took my hand. "Oh Astoria, it really must be fate! Because Professor Oak gave me my ticket too, it must be a sign! We were meant to meet at this conference. Our passionate love will echo throughout the ages- ack!" Brock cried out in pain as Phoenix bludgeoned him with a large and heavy looking stick.

"No touchy! My Tori-twister! He never learns does he?"

Grateful for the save from Phoenix, but curious I said "Nope, he never seems to. Where did you get the stick anyway?"

She smirked at me, her Ditto eyes sparkling with maniacal glee. "There are many fun toys in the bag of holding, although I can't believe I forgot to check for some rope and- never mind, back on topic. I found this one the other day after our encounter with Manny the Moron."

I chuckled and said "Thank you for again giving me a reason not to ever leave you alone with the bag. Knowing you, there would be an automatic weapon of some kind in there."

She placed what I assumed was a hand over where her heart was and gasped in a dramatic manner, "Now really, Astoria, you wound me! Automatic weapons are so impersonal, and I prefer a much more personal and hands on approach. Like knives. Or swords. Or axes. Or simple household tools that can be remodeled for much more creative and violent uses."

I shook my head at her, chuckling slightly as Brock groaned, signaling his imminent recovery. Before he regained consciousness again though, Phoenix tucked the stick away back into the backpack. I was looking down at Brock contemplating about how he was so frequently injured but had such an amazing recovery time. Perhaps his body had built up a resistance to injury? Interrupting my thoughts, Phoenix made a sound that sounded very much like a squeal of glee.

I looked up as she said happily "Holy crap, shiny ADHD factory of distraction! Toriori? It's shiny, I wanna go over there. Dear gods, the shininess beckons!"

I looked in the direction she was pointing and saw bright, neon lights of the eye eating variety flashing on and off for a Pokémon themed gaming place. I shook my head as I looked at my watch, "Not now, Nix. I'm sorry but the lecture is starting soon we will be late if we go. Maybe we can go later, ok?"

My eyes caught on a prize in the window that looked like some kind of Pokémon. I felt my heart seem to skip a beat seeing that Pokémon, it looked like a Dratini but something was off about it. The color looked wrong to me and I felt the egg against my stomach wiggle as if telling me to go closer and get a better look.

Phoenix nodded, "Right, forgot about that. Sorry, I had an ADD moment; you know how it is."

I did know exactly what she meant, however I seemed to have a bit better control than Phoenix did. Just then then though, Brock made one of his fast recoveries and sprung up. He checked his watch and with a groan of dismay, he grabbed my hand before I could say one word and we were off running.

"Astoria, we have to be there in five minutes or we'll miss the start of the lecture! Come on, it's so close that if we hurry we'll make it in time." Brock exclaimed.

"Hey you annoying jackass, slow down! If you make us trip and either or both of us face plant, your ass is mine!" Phoenix snarled at Brock as she clung to my shoulder for dear life, the gaming store and strange Dratini forgotten for the time being.

We ran most of the way back, but thankfully the conference center was really close so we actually did make it on time and I saw a blur of the Gyarados fountain as we flew past it. Brock seemed to know where he was going, so I let him continue to lead us and focused on not tripping and, as Phoenix had so eloquently stated, face planting into the rug. I didn't see much of the inside of the building, just a blur of white and colors that I assumed were professors and trainers as we raced past them towards our destination.

This speed was making me dizzy as heck though and I was starting to fear I would fall for real. That or the sheer velocity and momentum when we did finally stop would send me flying into a nearby wall just like in the anime. That would really hurt me, right? Or smash my poor little egg, wouldn't it? I wasn't some cartoon character who could survive serious injury, right? I shut my eyes tight in fear and yelled "Brock! Please for the love of everything good in the world, slow down!"

Brock chucked and replied to my closed eyes "Astoria, why are you shouting? We're already here. "

I tentatively opened my eyes and blinked at the sudden theater lights in pure shock. We were already sitting in a room that looked like a lecture hall or a play theater. In fact we were sitting in plush, red theater seats. Brock was distracted for the moment, talking excitedly to the person sitting next to him.

I blinked stupidly in complete and utter confusion. "Nix, how did he do that? I didn't even feel us stop moving."

She looked at me, a mix of confusion and puzzlement on her own Ditto face. "Tori, I'm honestly as surprised as you are. Not to mention a bit creeped out and disturbed. Maybe it's a weird physics law here in Poké Earth? Cause this seriously defies the laws of physics back home in major ways."

I paused and laughed, relieved, before I replied. "It's a good a reason as any."

She snorted, "No kidding. I'm going to need some serious therapy and medication after this fiasco. I can see it now, 'What made you come to see me today?' 'Oh nothing much, my best friend and I just got sucked into a video game.' Yeah. Because that wouldn't get me a nice white jacket and one way ticket to the local funny farm.'

I chuckled at her comments before going back to my thoughts. I was constantly amazed at the things that kept happening to us. If I didn't know better, I would think I had lost mind, but I figured it was easier to go with it than to get my head examined. Brock suddenly turned to me excitedly interrupting my thoughts. "Astoria, I want you to meet someone. This is Max, an old friend of mine. Max, his sister May, my friend Ash, and I all traveled together for a while. Max here is finally starting out on his journey. Max, it's only been a few years, but boy you really grew. It's really good to see you. "

Max chuckled and rubbed the back of his head with an embarrassed look, "Aw, Brock I didn't get that big, but it's nice to see you too. If Professor Oak had told me you were gonna be here I would have tried harder to get May to come here with me. She went to another competition with her Pokémon. Oh, and it's nice to meet you, Astoria. Brock was just telling me he met you a little while ago?"

I nodded and replied "Yeah, he helped me and Nix out a lot. By the way, this is Phoenix, my ditto. "

He smiled at the two of us in a friendly manner, "It's nice to meet you both."

I took a moment to look at Max who I knew from the Pokémon anime as a very smart, good hearted, Pokémon loving little boy. Only he wasn't really a little boy anymore, although he was still young, Max had definitely grown some. He looked more like a preteen now around eleven or twelve years in age and he still had that earnest smile that made me like him in the anime. He looked at me for a moment a smile on his face then his eyes looked down towards my chest. For a moment and just for a second I thought I had another Sparky/Brock problem to deal with. I was so glad I was wrong because as Max's eyes lit up and he said with happiness in his voice "Wow! Is that a Pokémon egg? I've never seen one with that color and pattern. Do you know what it is?"

I shook my head, answering "No, some nice people at the daycare gave it to me. They didn't know what it was either, but hoped I could help it hatch."

Brock, looking curious, in a professional sounding tone stated "You know Astoria, I'm training to be a Pokémon doctor. If you like, after the lecture, I could examine it for you and try to see what it is. And if you want, I can give your Pokémon a health check too, especially since they just had that battle with Team Rocket."

I smiled and replied, "Thanks Brock, that would be really wonderful and I would so appreciate you taking a look at the egg and my Pikachu, Sparky. Nix though... um well..."

Phoenix, who had buried herself in my red hair at the very mention of the words 'health check', growled angrily while glaring at Brock between strands of hair and said "I'll kill him. Tori, if his hand touches me I swear by all that's holy I will rip off the arm it's attached to and beat him to death with it."

I finished my speech as diplomatically as possible. "Nix doesn't like anyone touching her without her express permission. And even then, that's only to people she trusts." There that was a very good response.

Brock, with an understanding look, nodded at me and a hissing Phoenix saying "That's okay, some Pokémon only trust their trainers. When I was a breeder, I learned not to take that kind of thing personally. Maybe someday Nix will consider me one of those humans she trusts, but for now I'm perfectly happy to help you however you want, Astoria."

Phoenix blinked, "You know, I know he's being sincere, but I can't help but think 'kiss ass'."

I didn't give her a reply seeing as Max, looking at both of us, said "Hey, if you guys want, I was gonna go to this great restaurant around the block from here after the lecture. I heard they have this amazing homemade Combee and Miltank ice cream dessert. We could all grab a bite together, my treat."

Phoenix enthusiastically poked her head out of my hair and said "Tori! Real food! Not that noxious, disgusting, abomination known as Pokémon food! And ice cream! Say yes, damn it, yes!" She gently thumped her jiggly ditto fists on my head with excitement in such an obvious manner that it made both Brock and Max laugh at her antics

"I think Nix wants to go." Said Max.

Chuckling, I agreed. "Yes, I do believe your right, Max. We accept your generous invitation."

Phoenix happily waved her hands in the air "Woot! I get real food! …Don't judge, Toriori. I know you've tasted the Pokémon food too." Just then the lights dimmed

"Oh, it's starting. Look there's Professor Oak and Professor Juniper." Brock pointed and I looked seeing the two Professors walking up the stairs and then across the stage together.

Behind them, in the middle area of the stage, was a giant white screen that I assumed was for image projections. Standing behind the podium together Professor Oak started to speak first. "Good afternoon my fellow Pokémon professors and Pokémon enthusiasts. Today Professor Juniper and I would like to discuss with you our recent research and theories about Pokémon and their relation to human beings."

Juniper chimed in "Yes, according to our observations and research we have a discovered that some Pokémon may actually have come into being thanks the evolution of mankind and to our technology."

Professor Oak clicked a button on the podium and three pictures of Pokémon appeared on screen, Pokémon I knew fairly well. One was Grimer, second was a Voltorb, and the final one was a Porygon. "These Pokémon are from the Kanto region and are prime examples of our theories today. Grimer could not be found at all before human waste production and population increases caused more pollution for the Pokémon to feed on. Voltorbs were discovered roughly ten years after the invention of today's modern pokeballs. And Porygon a mere five years after the creation of the world wide web."

Juniper clicked the button this time and three more Pokémon appeared on screen as she dictated "And here are three images of Pokémon from the Unova region. We have similar theories about Klink, Trubbish, and Foongus. These three Pokémon were discovered after certain points in human evolution. Ergo, our main topic of this lecture and the surprise theme is that Professor Oak and I believe that humans may be a direct link to the creation of some Pokémon!"

I heard the awed gasps of surprise and shock from the audience as well as one or two exclamations of disbelief. Phoenix, amused, said softly to me "Hey Tori? Do you think it would blow their minds if they knew about how humans basically did create Pokémon and their whole world?"

Whispering back, I said "Yeah, it probably would, but the exploding heads would be messy so let's keep it to ourselves."

"But the colors, Tori! I could make a beautiful mural out of the resulting gore! Not to mention the pictures would be perfect to add to my scrap book!"

I resisted the urge to face palm. "And what happens if something horrible, like the world imploding, happens because you broke the fourth wall?"

I swear I could hear Phoenix pout as she replied "Damn it, I hate it when you're right. Tori, just so you know, you really do spoil my fun sometimes."

I snickered and replied "Yeah, it's what I'm good at."

And so I spent a pleasant hour and a half with Phoenix, Brock and Max learning more about Pokémon courtesy of listening to Professors Juniper and Oak.


End file.
